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{"id":7420,"date":"2020-12-30T10:36:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T15:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?p=7420"},"modified":"2020-12-30T10:36:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T15:36:11","slug":"the-dark-side-of-feminism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2020\/12\/the-dark-side-of-feminism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Side of Feminism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Dark Side of Feminism<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get all worked up about the title of this blog post, please! I have here and everywhere fully supported the main goals of the women\u2019s movement\/feminism such as total, absolute equality between the sexes. I have long taught against patriarchy in all its forms and lived that commitment in all my relations. One example: I am now a member of a third Baptist church in a row (for me) pastored by a woman.<\/p>\n

With this blog essay I intend nothing against the main goals of feminism, but together with even some feminists I want to say that American feminism, perhaps misunderstood by people who support it, has a dark side. That dark side has been neglect of boys.<\/p>\n

Recently I came across this article in Harper\u2019s Bazaar (at Harpersbazaar.com, February 22, 2019): \u201cHow Feminism Is Stifling Our Sons\u201d by feminist Christine Michel Carter. Please read it (by finding it using an internet search engine). This article expresses exactly what I have been saying even before Newseek\u2019s famous \u201cThe Boy Crisis\u201d cover story of 2006.<\/p>\n

*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the \u201cNote to commenters\u201d at its end.*<\/em><\/p>\n

Christine Michel Carter is not the first feminist to point out this dark side of feminism. Feminist scholar Christina Hoff Sommers said much the same in \u201cThe Boys at the Back\u201d in the New York Times<\/em> in 2013.<\/p>\n

Please read Christine Michel Carter\u2019s excellent article mentioned above. You will have no trouble finding it using an internet search engine. The article is pro-women and pro-girls all the way but points out that contemporary emphasis on girls in education and the media is prompting a continuing ignoring of boys. Not all boys automatically enjoy \u201cmale privilege.\u201d Boys are not defective girls.<\/p>\n

I will give just one of hundreds of example of what Christine Michel Carter says\u2014from my own experience. I am a customer of a local national-chain bookstore and visited local stores in several cities and saw this same thing: a large table of books for girls with the sign \u201cFor Unstoppable Girls.\u201d Never have I seen a table of books for boys in any bookstore. The same stores carry many more magazines for girls (e.g., Girls Life<\/em>) than for boys.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t try to tell me its all just supply and demand. I have the larger picture\u2014as does Christine Michel Carter. There are associations and organizations \u201cabove\u201d the bookstore(s) that push them to promote books for girls and to not push books for boys. Who knows how many books for boys would sell if these bookstores placed tables \u201cfront and center aisle\u201d for boys? I don\u2019t believe it is ever been tried\u2014at least in recent years\/decades.<\/p>\n

Anyway\u2026please read (!) Christine Michel Carter\u2019s article. Comments that are civil and promote dialogue (not argumentative) are welcome. But know that I get tired of saying here that this is not a zero sum game. More attention to boys does not necessarily require less attention to girls!<\/p>\n

I could go on here talking about statistics. If you are interested in them, go to https:\/\/www.aei.org\/carpe-diem\/chart-of-the-day-for-every-100-girls-women\/<\/a> . There you will find some troubling statistics about boys and young men in American society. The evidence is that they are falling far behind girls and young women in education and health and well-being.<\/p>\n

Finally, again, I am not blaming feminism for \u201cthe boy crisis.\u201d I am blaming the ways in which society at large has interpreted or misinterpreted feminism. True feminism never intended this boy crisis or neglect of boys; it is the educators, advertisers, health professionals, etc., who have interpreted feminism that way\u2014perhaps unconsciously. But it is time now for them to pay more attention to boys without neglecting girls. (I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any danger of that happening.)<\/p>\n

*Note to commenters:<\/em> This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment only to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives\/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and \u201con topic.\u201d Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger\u2019s (or guest writers\u2019) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"