Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It / Richard V. Reeves
RATINGS
Overall: 3.5/ 5 stars
Text Level: Medium
Entertainment: Medium
Self-Help: Low
Page Count: 184
Is this book right for me and my inmate?
If you are struggling to find your purpose with a man's role in your life this book can be an interesting read.
Buy on: Amazon
Review By: Blackbird (Inmate)
A social science book examining the loss of men's roles in modern society.
For a large part of my life I struggled to find meaning and purpose in life. Even when it seemed I was outwardly successful in life having a deeper feeling of purpose escaped me. Reading this book has shown me I'm not as alone in this feeling as I might have once believed. The feeling of isolation, lack of purpose and finding one's way is a very common among inmates.
This book talks about how many men in our modern society have began to struggle from a loss of purpose because their role in society has seemed to shift under their feet. This especially had big consequences in men coming from lower income areas. Identifying this group describes most of the incarcerated population. So, as I read this book I could recognize this struggle all around me in jail.
What I learned from this book is that as a society we need to do a better job of offering support to men in building a new value towards the community. As men we also need to have more courage in asking for help when it is needed. It isn't a weakness as a man to ask for support to be successful. This doesn't mean that we should see ourselves as victims of a changing world, but just being able to say we might need help to adapt. For inmates I believe a recognition of this is extremely important. Read this book to build a greater level of empathy for a possible blind spot in society you might have.
Book Quotes
"Two wrongs don't make a right. We need to fix both. Inequalities matter regardless of their direction."
"We also need to be grown up enough as a culture to recognize that big changes, even positive ones, have repercussions."
