Boys

What It Means to Become a Man

By: Rachel Giese

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

A vital and sweeping examination of today's "boy crisis", demonstrating the ways in which we raise boys into a culture of toxic masculinity and offering solutions that can liberate us all.

Whether they're being urged to "man up" or warned that "boys don't cry", young men are subjected to damaging messages about manliness: They must muzzle their emotions and never show weakness, dominate girls and compete with one another.

Boys: What It Means to Become a Man examines how these toxic rules can hinder boys' emotional and social development. If girls can expand the borders of femaleness, could boys also be set free of limiting, damaging expectations about manhood and masculinity? Could what's been labelled "the boy crisis" be the beginning of a revolution in how we raise young men?

Drawing on extensive research and interviews with educators, activists, parents, psychologists, sociologists, and young men, Giese—mother to a son herself—examines the myths of masculinity and the challenges facing boys today. She reports from boys-only sex education classes and recreational sports leagues; talks to parents of transgender children and plays video games with her son. She tells stories of boys navigating the transition into manhood and how the upheaval in cultural norms about sex, sexuality and the myths of masculinity have changed the coming of age process for today's boys.

With lively reportage and clear-eyed analysis, Giese reveals that the movement for gender equality has the potential to liberate us all.

©2018 Rachel Giese (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Boys is a multifaceted exploration of masculinity . . . Rachel Giese's vision of boyhood—and therefore manhood—is an enlarging, humane one. This is a beautifully reasoned work that should be required reading for anyone interested in detoxifying masculinity."—Michael Redhill, author of Giller-winning Bellevue Square

"A broad, readable take on the limits of modern-day masculinity, and how to push its boundaries to better serve our children and ourselves. It's full of love but unsentimental, with new tidbits for scholars of gender, race and identify, and valuable insight for parents of little boys, like me."—The Globe and Mail

"Giese looks at masculinity with a surprisingly heartfelt curiosity and objectivity."—Literary Review of Canada

A must-read book for any parent of boys

As the mother of two young boys, I listened to this book to get some insight on how I might raise them to be thoughtful and caring young men. I’m a world where toxic masculinity is everywhere, and boys are forced by societal pressure to live in a narrow and confining box of emotionless aggression in order to be “real men”, this book offers insight and encouragement for how we might change this as parents and educators. Feminism is not just about girls, but about liberating boys as well. An amazing book about the current crisis of masculinity.