Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules

Product Description

'Why should equality just be for girls?' Lauren Laverne The pressures of growing up today absorb the media, politicians, campaigners and parents, but why is the experience of half our young people so often excluded from the picture? In our growing obsession with physical and educational perfection and the gap between the myth of 'having it all' and the difficulty of attaining any of it, the plight of girls is compellingly portrayed and passionately debated. Yet boys suffer too from these and other stresses - many of them fuelled by narrow, rigid notions of masculinity - and their hardship is often dismissed or overlooked. Young men are reluctant to give voice to their troubles, despite a startling rise in unhealthy attitudes towards sexual relationships, fixation with body image, unhappiness with macho culture, difficulties at school and in entering the workforce and mental health issues. Man Up lifts the lid on the social, sexual and educational pressures faced by boys and young men. It reveals the resulting confusion and wasted potential that can hamper men's fulfillment in later life. It calls for a more proactive, compassionate and affirming approach from parents, schools, services and the wider community so that all boys have the chance to become happier men and decent citizens, partners and fathers. Above all, through uplifting testimony and case studies it shows that change is possible.'Why should equality just be for girls?' Lauren Laverne The pressures of growing up today absorb the media, politicians, campaigners and parents, but why is the experience of half our young people so often excluded from the picture? In our growing obsession with physical and educational perfection and the gap between the myth of 'having it all' and the difficulty of attaining any of it, the plight of girls is compellingly portrayed and passionately debated. Yet boys suffer too from these and other stresses - many of them fuelled by narrow, rigid notions of masculinity - and their hardship is often dismissed or overlooked. Young men are reluctant to give voice to their troubles, despite a startling rise in unhealthy attitudes towards sexual relationships, fixation with body image, unhappiness with macho culture, difficulties at school and in entering the workforce and mental health issues. Man Up lifts the lid on the social, sexual and educational pressures faced by boys and young men. It reveals the resulting confusion and wasted potential that can hamper men's fulfillment in later life. It calls for a more proactive, compassionate and affirming approach from parents, schools, services and the wider community so that all boys have the chance to become happier men and decent citizens, partners and fathers. Above all, through uplifting testimony and case studies it shows that change is possible.
Rebecca Asher has worked in television news and current affairs and as the Deputy Editor of Woman's Hour and an Executive Producer at BBC Radio 4. Her first book was Shattered- Modern Motherhood and the Illusion of Equality. Her experiences as a mother of both a boy and a girl inspired her to write this book.