That's What Little Boys Are Made Of - The false wisdom of a "dangerous" book [semi-barf]

Reason Magazine ^ | June 18, 2007 | Cathy Young

[SamuraiScot]

I agree that overall the piece isn’t damning. I didn’t like that quote about including girls though...they can have their own book! ;-)

At college, I reunited with a boyhood chum, whom I discovered was going to Hampshire College, just down the road from my school. It was, and is, an intensely Lefty, granola institution, subject to every single Marxist, feminist, ecological, and racial fad on the planet. There, my normal friend stuck out like a sore thumb, and had an eye for truth. There were no male intercollegiate athletic teams, he told me, not even the Ultimate Frisbee team.

"Everything at Hampshire is co-ed," he explained, "except what's for women."

[Right Wing Assault]

You were eavesdropping on my supposedly respectable childhood?

The really cool thing is that boys all over the country invented some of these things on their own. Or inherited them from the older wise guys in the neighborhood. Or heard them from the dads when they had a few beers in them.

[HungarianGypsy]

If it makes her feel better she can go buy The American Girl’s Handbook. I don’t remember if that’s the exact title. My daughter owns it. It’s a copy of a book written in the 19th century.

[HungarianGypsy]

My cousin failed at Chapter One: How to hop trains without losing your legs.

Chapter Twenty Four: Making large explosives out of common household items.

Chapter Twenty Five: Making a large dangerous fort in your living room without mom finding out.

Twenty Five: Ways to really climb the walls like Spiderman.

Twenty Six: Being Superman while keeping your teeth in your mouth.

[ModelBreaker]

So, what's the deal? You were eavesdropping on my supposedly respectable childhood?

Cherry bombs, M80's and incinerators.

[Right Wing Assault]

My cousin failed at Chapter One: How to hop trains without losing your legs.

Yeah, a kid in my neighborhood did, too. I forgot a chapter on, "Building snow forts that won't collapse and suffocate you."

[Right Wing Assault]

Cherry bombs, M80's and incinerators.

How did I skip that one? Sections include tin cans, glass bottles and jars, and depth charges in galvanized garbage cans. Buckeyes in incinerators are good in incinerators. As are glass bottles with rubbing alcohol in them.

[scottteng]

And the high point of the Scouting experience is summer camp. At shooting sports we know how to motivate them we make the shooting sports team state champion girls the instructors. Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!

[Hoof Hearted]

"I wanna play cricket on the green

Ride my bike across the street

Cut myself and see my blood

I wanna come home all covered in mud..."

"I'm a boy - I'm a boy,

But my ma won't admit it,

I'm a boy - I'm a boy,

But if I say I am I get it...

[Freedom4US]

They are long out of print and kinda pricey now, but this latest book isn’t anything new, but dare I say it “reactionary” - “The Boys Book of Electronics” or Radio or Chemistry were first printed in the 1930s, they are really great reads for young and old. Every school library had those and similar books. eBay probably has them, but with this latest tome I bet they have had an uptick in price.

[jnygrl]

One of my seven year-old’s favorite toys is an electronics kit, complete with schematics, to create various projects. He really gets into it. And then, when he’s done, he goes outside and digs in the dirt. After that, he wrestles with his little brother. ;-)

Thanks for the info!

[GreenOgre]

Cathy Young is a contributing editor of reason.

Yeah Right....

[HerrBlucher]

Ah....finally....another Who fan...

[attiladhun2]

"Actually, men are more predisposed to taking risks, and are much more skilled at it than women."

And the wild streak in males is tamed by marriage and family. This explains more than anything else the violence and depravity you'll find in the inner-city of major urban areas. The breakdown of marriage and the family there have encourged males to remain essentially adolescents well into adulthood. Without the civilizing role of families of their own, inner-city males become brutes without pity.

[muir_redwoods]

Chapter 23: House cats and homemade, bedsheet parachutes, an afternoon of bliss for one of you

[Titan Magroyne]

Bought two, intending to give one to my nephew and his Daddy.

A grey-headed gent who happened to notice my selection leaned in with a conspiratorial smile and made a quip about that book not being for me.

I grinned back and said, “Hey, we didn’t get to do fun stuff like this in Girl Scouts!”

[68skylark]

So yes, initiative and adventure, in that sense of the word, are indeed "male." It is part of our makeup -- and it is counter-balanced, in a healthy way, by other characteristics in women.

Excellent comment -- I agree.

[68skylark]

It’s a good book, I think. Your grandson will likely enjoy it.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Yep! I’d love to go to Barnes & Noble to buy it because that would tick THEM off, too.

:)

Make SURE you buy ALL of your political books there...it’s amazing the horrified looks the cashiers give you. ;)

[68skylark]

Cathy Young is generally fair-minded and opposed to the anti-male feminist crowd. Often writes in favor of Fathers’ Rights,etc. This piece seems to reflect her appreciation for the book.

Thanks for a good comment. I put "semi-barf" in the headline because I'm not really opposed to the author's point -- only semi-opposed. She makes a good point that we shouldn't overlook the differences in individuals, whether it's boys who like stories about relationships or girls who are somewhat "Tom-boysish."

I'm glad that boys have a book that really tries to speak to their individuality, but I realize that humans (both boys and girls) are more complex than easy stereotypes.