Why the problems of young men are ignored, with Richard Reeves.
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What unique challenges are young men facing today?
Welcome to Lost Boys, a podcast dedicated to shining a light on the unique challenges young men face today and an exploration about what we can do about it. In our last episode, Scott Galloway and I spoke with author and researcher Richard Reeves. He wrote the seminal book about the challenges young men face today called Of Boys and Men. Last time we talked about how, by nearly every measure, young men are failing to thrive and They're doing worse in school. They're doing worse in relationships. They're doing worse in the workplace than ever before. Today, we're going to talk about why the challenges young men face is an issue that's been ignored. And we'll ask the question, for men to do better, doesn't that mean women will have to do worse? The answer, of course, is no. Here's part two of my conversation with Scott Galloway and Richard Reeves. I'm going to play the progressive here.
Why are the problems of young men overlooked?
I'm going to say, guys, I hear you, but there was five, six, seven hundred years of white male privilege throughout European society, eventually spilled over into American society. And frankly, the women were not even allowed to vote 125 years ago. They got the vote 105 or so years ago. And a result of which everything that's going on today is a counterbalance. to what's happened over hundreds and hundreds of years. And again, I don't believe all that. I'm playing the devil's advocate because I want you to respond to it because that's some of the policy pushback.
Well, it's some of the resistance that you get to the conversation, which, you know, until you have the conversation and get the data, you can't even have the conversation. You can't have a conversation about solutions to problems that people aren't agreed are problems. Right. And of course, it's uncomfortable to start talking about boys and men when we still know that there are so many things still to do for women and girls and because of that history. But just because it's uncomfortable shouldn't mean we don't do it. The failure to have the conversation has been a huge problem. And actually, Look, let's put it very bluntly. Yes, it's true that we've had a society where most of the inequalities went the other way. Do we now want a society where we don't care if we just reverse all of that? Like either we care about gender equality or we don't. And right now there's a bigger gender gap in US colleges than there was in the 1970s. It's just the other way around.
So women are further ahead of men now in college than the other way around. Another question. So we cared about it then. when it was women who were behind. The question is, why would we not care about it now when it's men who are behind? And if the answer is, well, because they've had their turn, it's our turn now. That's a horrific way to think about communities. It's zero sum, it's pessimistic. And by the way, it won't pass muster with moms. If you say to my wife, You've got three sons, but you know, we've had 10,000 years of patriarchy, so we don't really care about them and we don't care about their mental health and their education and get ready for a berating. Because the idea that two wrongs make a right is actually offensive, but it does get in the way of this problem.
But once you acknowledge that there's discomfort and you acknowledge the history, then I find that most people want to have a good faith conversation. So you played the part very well, Anthony, but it's almost nobody who actually thinks like that. Thank God.
Yeah, I call it the Red Army effect. When the Russians liberated Berlin or came in, they were pissed off. And there was a lot of unfair and unnecessary violence and just brutalization and criminal acts. And I was on MSNBC and I was talking about, you know, are we going to hold a 19-year-old kid from Appalachia responsible for the advantage I received? Is it their fault that I was sort of born on third base because I was white, had outdoor plumbing, and was born in 1964? Should he pay the price for that? And the host said, well, of course there's going to be an overreaction, and we should expect that. I'm like, you're... you're justifying injustice.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What unique challenges are young men facing today?
0:05–1:05
2
Why are the problems of young men overlooked?
1:05–12:47
3
How can we address the concerns of mothers regarding their sons?
12:47–17:01
4
What solutions can help young men thrive?
17:01–23:51
5
How does societal change impact young men's opportunities?
23:51–31:33
6
What role do male teachers play in supporting boys?
31:33–34:15
7
Why is it important to advocate for young men's issues?
34:15–36:32