The Plight of Young Males

The Plight of Young Males

  • Submitted By: arvai1
  • Date Submitted: 10/19/2008 4:12 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 849
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 888

A Critique of “Reexamining the Plight of Young Males”
The Washington Post first published an article by Megan Rosenfeld titled “Reexamining the Plight of Young Males” in March of 1998. In this article Rosenfeld discusses the gender stereotyping of boys. Rosenfeld feels that boys are statistically treated differently from girls. Megan Rosenfeld quotes Pollack as saying “It may still be a man’s world, but it’s not a boy’s….” Having a small boy of my own I find the statistics in this article to be worrisome.
The article begins with facts such as boys are more likely to die in infancy; they are more fragile as babies and diagnosed at a higher rate than girls with learning disabilities and learning disorders. Research also shows that boys are more often diagnosed as autistic or schizophrenic. Studies illustrate that in adulthood men are being incarcerated at increasing rates and they are becoming both the victim of violence and the perpetrator. Research suggests boys are not mentally mature enough when they come into adulthood.
Educators and psychologists that study boys argue that the way people educate and parent boys along with popular culture and biology say, “…male children do not fully develop their capacity for emotional depth and complexity.” Alongside the emotional aspects of boy health comes how society views them as being politically incorrect. Society no longer views a male as strong. Instead he is viewed as violent. Statistics also show that boys commit suicide in higher numbers than girls and if girls did the same it would be considered a social health issue. Another
example would be the social stigma of boys liking pink. Society says it is a “girl color” and boys should not like it. Public views are not the only challenges boys have to face. They also have to overcome more learning obstacles at an earlier age than girls.
Boys are six times more likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability. Some theories suggest that...

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