BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity

BoyMom combines memoir, cultural analysis, and reporting to examine the complexities of raising boys in contemporary America. Ruth Whippman, a feminist writer and mother of three sons, explores the conflicting pressures boys face as masculinity has become politicized across the political spectrum. While the right promotes a particular vision of manhood, feminist circles often view boys as potential predators. Whippman investigates how to raise sons with healthy self-regard without entitlement, and how to apply feminist values to boys with empathy rather than dismissal. The book addresses urgent concerns: young men face a loneliness epidemic and die by suicide at nearly four times the rate of female peers. Whippman spent months interviewing incels, reporting on a conference for boys accused of sexual assault, visiting a residential therapy center in Utah, and speaking with psychologists and boys from various backgrounds about sex, consent, pornography, body image, mental health, cancel culture, screens, friendship, and loneliness. She examines the contradictory pressures and harmful blind spots of male socialization that leave boys isolated and emotionally repressed. The book charts a path toward giving boys a healthier and more expansive understanding of their own lives.