Anyone who is paying even a modicum of attention these days recognizes that American men and boys are failing; in school, in the workplace, in family life, and that they are increasingly dropping out of all three. Author and senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, Richard Reeves, sums up the gravity of the crisis and provides his perspective and recommendations for addressing it.

Reeves promptly acknowledges that taking up the cause for boys and men in today’s political climate is a risky undertaking at best. Across all areas of our culture, the focus for decades has been on improving the lot of women and girls, and today most females are thriving in nearly every aspect of life when compared to men and boys.

But the whole point of Reeves’ book is not to detract from female progress, but to find ways to lift up men and boys where they most need it — in education first and foremost, and then in finding new career paths, and finally by reinstating the importance of fathers in the lives of their children.

The author quotes The Economist magazine to illustrate his view that the boys and men struggling the most are those at the bottom of the economic and social ladder, and that most men are not likely to rise to the top. “The fact that the highest rungs have male feet all over them,” notes The Economist, is scant comfort for the men at the bottom.”

While for this reviewer, the book is mostly on target in its evaluation of the current plight of males in this country and other western countries, Reeves accepts the flawed progressive notion of “systemic racism” in America. He places considerable blame on racism for the failure of black men in general, and poor black men in particular, to succeed. While he believes black women also suffer from bias, he contends that they are impacted to a much lesser degree, and he notes that many more black women find success than black men despite these obstacles. This isn’t to suggest that Reeves dwells solely on racism, but he does consider it a significant contributing factor, particuiarly in the lives of black males.

Reeves rightly emphasizes the fact that boys of all races lag far behind girls in the classroom, and he focuses on education as a key factor in improving their lot. His research shows that “boys are 50 percent more likely than girls to fail at all three key school subjects: math, reading, and science,” that boys are falling even farther behind in literacy and verbal skills, and that “the differences open up early.”

While the author concedes that many programs have been tried in schools throughout the country to remedy the situation, most have favored girls, and that few, if any, have made any difference in the progress of boys. But Reeves overlooks the failure of the schools to teach reading by the proven phonics method and to note that this failure penalizes boys more than girls, although all students suffer. It follows, then, that boys are less likely than girls to graduate from high school, and the fact that young women now outnumber young men in higher education has been a growing phenomenon for years.

Reeves’ remedy for improving boys’ success in school is novel and not without scientific merit: hold them back a year. Instead of starting kindergarten at five years of age, wait until they are six, giving them some additional time to mature. “Boys’ brains develop more slowly,” he writes, “especially during the most critical years of secondary education. When almost one in four boys (23 percent) is categorized as having a ‘developmental disability,’ it is fair to wonder if it is educational institutions, rather than the boys, that are not functioning properly.”

Although Reeves could probably be described as center-left politically, as is the Brookings Institution, he readily acknowledges throughout the book the immutable differences between boys and girls. He describes in detail how “the gender gap” impacts students from the high-school level through college and how women have increasingly dominated higher education, from the number of female students to their presence in nonacademic areas as well.

As a centrist, Reeves predictably finds fault with both conservatives and progressives, but he reserves his harshest criticism for progressive refusal to entertain any possibility that men are being treated unfairly in our culture, and for the irrational blind eye they take toward the obvious differences between the sexes, even while claiming that “science is real.” He writes that the left invented the concept of “toxic masculinity” and mainstreamed it as a result of their opposition to President Trump. “Lacking any coherent or consistent definition,” Reeves writes, “the phrase now refers to any male behavior that the user disapproves of, from the tragic to the trivial.... Toxic masculinity is a counterproductive term. Very few boys and men are likely to react well to the idea that there is something toxic inside them that needs to be exorcized.”

The author also criticizes conservatives, whom he claims want to turn the clock back when it comes to gender equality and family life. He believes that genie is out of the bottle, and that the political right would do well to help men “adapt to the new world,” rather than “beguiling them with promises of the old.” While this reviewer disagrees that conservatives in general believe we can return entirely to the pre-feminist era, there are probably more constructive ways the political right could address the genuine grievances of men and boys.

One of the main ways Reeves recommends helping men is by reimagining the job market. He believes there are no longer traditional male or female roles. Thanks to the feminist movement, he notes, women are now comfortable in most traditionally male roles, including STEM roles (science, technology, engineering, and math). While men still dominate in those fields, women have made huge inroads.

Reeves asserts that the reverse needs to happen. Men, he writes, can and should move into what he calls HEAL jobs (health, education, administration, and literacy), the areas where women continue to dominate. He outlines the many benefits to patients, students, and society in general of having more men filling those roles, even while he recognizes that there are obstacles to their doing so.

Of course, he devotes considerable time to addressing the importance of fathers, and admits that “the loss of the traditional male role in the family has been a massive cultural shock, and one that has left many men reeling.” But he adds that “the old model of fatherhood, narrowly based on economic provision, is unfit for a world of gender equality. It has to be replaced with a much more expansive role for fathers, one that includes a much bigger caring element and is on equal footing with mothers.”

Overall, this reviewer considers Of Boys and Men to be a worthwhile read, although Christian conservatives may find fault with it in a number of areas. While Reeves acknowledges and addresses the natural differences in males and females, he is decidedly in the feminist camp. And his writings about the role of men in marriage and family life do not include mention of the proverbial elephant in the room that is abortion. And a couple of references made in the book clearly indicate the author’s belief in evolution.

Nonetheless, this book is well researched, thoughtfully written, and meticulously documented. It addresses what few books currently do, the crisis that is facing boys and men of all races. As Reeves opines in his final sentence: “My hope is that away from the heat and noise of tribal politics, we can come to a shared recognition that many of our boys and men are in real trouble, not of their own making, and [they] need help.” If his book does nothing else, it proves the accuracy of this statement.

To read the entire book, go here to order!

The Education Reporter Book Review is a project of America’s Future, Inc. To find out more about America’s Future, visit AmericasFuture.net.

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