Which are the good books on the decline of men?

Cantido · February 2013

The Art of Manliness was a fun read. I decided to get it because wetshaving was fun, but found a lot of meaningful content on it that went hand in hand with Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, which was written in the 1930's yet applies to this day. They both cover sociability, etiquette, and leadership. The former is of course, geared toward men, the latter is geared toward anybody.

Now what the Art of Manliness covered that made it unique, was the dreaded Nice Guy and the entitlement complex the nice guy tends to carry, and different behaviors that are making men into every bit the sacks of shit you see on TV.

We've had more than one D&D thread on the decline of men, and I thought I would pick up a book on the subject, but I know there are both strawman-feminist and misogynistic authors out there trying to cover the subject. I am having trouble telling apart good material from bad. Are there any recommendations out there? Is it too touchy a subject that there are no good resources out there?

TychoCelchuuu · February 2013

I've read The Hearts of Men and it's good although somewhat dated. I have also read The Gender Knot and it's not bad. Books I haven't read but that seem like they might be good just from glancing at them:

The Masculinities Reader
The Macho Paradox
The Men and the Boys
Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity
Masculinities
Manhood in America: A Cultural History
Masculinities in Theory

wilting · February 2013

I've been meaning to get into this subject and have been pointed towards anything by Warren Farrell, particularly Why Men Are The Way They Are, can't offer any recommendations myself though.

SkyGheNe · February 2013

The End of Men is pretty recent and a good read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Men-Rise-Women/dp/1594488045

flowerhoney · February 2013

I personally found Hanna Rosin's article "The End of Men" to be painfully bad and to be chalk full of oppositional sexism bullshit (I haven't read her book, but I can't imagine its on a much different note)

Cantido, I would argue that the idea that men are declining is not only a myth, but perpetuates the damaging idea that if women are "gaining" in society, then men must be "losing" or "declining". Society is a lot more complex than that, men and women aren't locked in some kind battle against each other. I'm only just barely touching on this subject and why I think its stupid so you're welcome to PM me if you want me to explain it better (but I understand if you're thinking like "why is this weird girl on the internet getting so excited to talk about this")

What exactly are you looking for when you say you're wanting to read more about the decline of men? If you're thinking of learning more about the critical role men have to play in ending sexism then there are a lot of great books out there!

I'd recommend Whipping Girl by Julia Serrano, this books focuses a lot of trans issues but is a really fantastic introduction to feminism and what it means. Plus its a fairly simple read and Serano is great at making difficult concepts easy to understand
http://www.amazon.com/Whipping-Girl-Transsexual-Scapegoating-Femininity/dp/1580051545/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361951036&sr=1-1&keywords=julia+serrano

Susan Fauldi also wrote a great book called Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, which is a lot more dense but deals with a lot of ideas surrounding american masculinity. Also her final chapter on then benefits of feminism for men is pure poetry
http://www.amazon.com/Stiffed-Betrayal-American-Susan-Faludi/dp/0380720450/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361951017&sr=1-4&keywords=susan+faludi

bell hooks is another great feminist writer who's said a lot of great things about the importance of men in the movement. She has a fairly new books called Feminism is For Everybody which people on amazon have said good things about (although apparently there aren't enough commas? Don't ask me)
http://www.amazon.com/Feminism-Is-Everybody-Passionate-Politics/dp/0896086283

If these books aren't really what you're looking for... well you should still read Whipping Girl because Julia Serrano is my hero and the whole reason I got into feminist theory! =D

wilting · February 2013

Almost wrote a far too D&D ish post, will just say its a good question as what exactly Candido means by 'decline of men' for the purpose of recommending material. I took a broad 'men's issues' interpretation.

Australopitenico · February 2013

Are men declining? How? o_O

wilting · February 2013

Australopitenico wrote: »

Are men declining? How? o_O

I don't know if they are declining, but they certainly aren't doing well in terms of education/unemployment/mental health/suicide rates/workplace deaths/health support/divorce and child custody/life expectancy/domestic violence and rape support/prison sentences.

Some would argue that your question is an example of how society doesn't care about men's problems. I think Cantido is thinking more in terms of men's behaviour, manliness etc, though.

Zombie Nirvana · February 2013

I believe Tycho has recommended some books that you might enjoy, Cantido. If you're a man, I suspect you'll know which ones make any sense - just listen to yourself as you reflect on the text and whether it makes any sense in reality. Don't worry about the "shoulds," consider what actually occurs. There are crazy people in this world right now and it seems it isn't okay to call a spade a spade anymore. Good luck.

ceres · February 2013

The problem with this thread is that it is going to be pretty difficult to keep it out of both D&D territory and "things that people should not be bringing up in a subforum with very very strict 'no misogyny/misandry' rules" territory. I would say that if a D&D thread is what peaked your interest, it might be best to ask there.

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Which are the good books on the decline of men?

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