Rating: 
Summary: A voice in the maelstrom
Review: This is a must read for parents and anyone else interested in gender studies. Ms. Sommers is precise, concise and direct in her attack of the methods used to manufacture the "crises" in girls lives we read so much about. She also shows that boys are not the demons some feminist writers claim, nor are they "at risk" as many other writers claim. It is hoped that her exposure of the nonsense perpetrated on us by the gurus of crises and their uncritical media hypsters will make a change in the erronious directions they advocate. It is a hope, however faint. At least you will be informed, how once again we are misinformed and manipulated by those who would rather sell books than tell the truth.
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Summary: Dr. Sommers "Gets It"
Review: I am heartened to see that there are educated people in the world who refuse to succumb to feminist prejudices against boys and bias toward girls. It's clear from the work of Dr. Sommers and others that upon examining gender issues especially relevant to the younger generation with a clear and unbiased eye no other conclusions can be drawn other than boys are in serious need of help. Her criticism of Gilligan is well founded and long overdue. Her criticism of Pollack is limited to the realm that Pollack lays all the problems of boys on the doorstep of "masculinity." Masculinity is something to be cherished and celebrated, not something to be toxified and repressed.
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Summary: Psychological fascism
Review: Sommers fails to take responsibility for her baseline models of gendered "normality"; thus, her book is yet another reactionary defense of the societal status quo -- pure level-headed formalism without an idea in its head, emotional wreckage be damned. If we want things to get better for our boys *and* girls, we'll need the courage and intelligence to resist such attractive but utterly vapid "thought."
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent research but the "war" is unnecesary!
Review: Ms. Sommers is a great researcher but falls a little short on the "great thinker" scale. I wanted more from this book. I wanted her to synergize her views with those of her opponents. She was too eager to have a "war" and "win it." She tried too hard to dominate her opponents and "win" the argument. I'm not interested in domination or winning; that's the problem we need to overcome. The feminists and progressives who want to "re-define manhood" seem lacking in honorable methodology, but they *DO* have some good points. What does it mean to be a man in today's world? We buy our meat at the supermarket and have wars at the push of a button. Who needs valorous fighters and daring hunters any more? What are men supposed to do? She doesn't offer much guidance in this regard except a return to the tried-and-true harsh discipline of yesteryear. Yawn... I recommend the book nonetheless and found it to be an enlightening read. She should give up the "war," as it isn't helpful in defining and re-defining what it means to be a boy, girl, man or woman in our age. Perhaps she thought that one more metaphorical "war" is what we need. She should get a clue from the Bible and "love her enemies." Instead, she falls into the same trap her opponents seem to enjoy --- victimology. She is victimizing boys as much as the people she opposes! Who is to say that boys have not already adapted to this feminist "programming" and come up with their own solution? I think if you look hard enough you will find boys and men who already know how to deal with self-rightous feminist activists .... ignore them. We know better. Eventually, when enough men say "NO" to the women who attempt to coerce conformity with feminist ethics, these women will begin to wonder if there isn't some better way to create a cooperative society. Of course there is; it's called "mutuality." "Just say no" when the feminists come calling. Encourage them to think about what is "right and just" for ALL PEOPLE, not just for one sex. Back to basic virtues, please. Machiavelli said "Divide and Conquer." That's a great tactic for warfare, but we aren't at war here. Sommers is as divisive as her opponents and should change her tactics to those of INCLUSION and MUTUALITY rather than DIVISION and DOMINANCE. She makes lots of good points about how England is changing its educational system to improve its fitness for boys. I wanted to "click" on a petition to inform my legislators that I concur with what England is doing. Same-sex schools for boys and girls, especially at young ages, make a lot of sense to me. Figure out what works to enhance academic performance and "just do it!" That's pretty simple stuff. Instead I'm left with a trite truism of "Boys will be boys." We are constantly redefining what gender identity and gender roles should be and in a world of 6 billion people we might want to consider that men have a higher calling than fulfilling their social expectations for heterosexual intercourse. How about some spiritual insights here? Most of the great spiritual leaders of the world have been men, but Ms. Sommers is very careful to avoid this fact. Perhaps if men learned how to "nurture" better they would be less interested in proving their manhood and more interested in mentoring the millions of fatherless boys. That's the real crime; men walking away (or being locked away) from their children. Again, she touches on it but doesn't give us that "click" to tell our legislators what needs to be done.
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Summary: Christina Hoff Sommers Hits Another Home Run
Review: Hoff Sommers exposes the bad/non-existent science of the man-hater feminists (Gilligan, Faludi and their ilk). She is a true scholar not afraid to follow the facts, where ever they lead. This book is a brilliant follow-up to "Who Stole Feminism?" I would place both of these books on anyone's must read list. Bravo! Ms. Hoff Sommers- You Go Girl!
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Summary: The Reigning Emperors and Empresses Have No Clothes
Review: Christina Hoff Sommers not only has seen the obvious but has had the nerve to report it without diluting indirection. Consequently, she has written the sort of book that will not be understood, much less be acceptable, for at least another fifty years. These days, too many "authorities" devoted to the romantic, counterintuitive dogmas which flourish within the educational establishment either will ignore her or unite, as dunces, in confederacy against her. In actuality, she is like one of those prisoners released from Plato's Cave who have seen the truths outside and returned to their darkened former abode to set others free. As a disturber of complacency, she can hardly expect a friendlier welcome than such types normally receive. In actuality, though, she deserves the highest praise for being so gloriously free of our age's cant and selective indignation in educational matters.
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Summary: Superb research; questionable conclusions
Review: Christina Hoff Sommers has done it again! She has written another electrifying book, guaranteed to shock the vast majority of her readers. For those of you not familiar with Ms. Sommers' previous work "Who Stole Feminism?" you've missed out on some pretty amazing stuff: She convincingly argues that our media, educational system and government bend over backwards to not criticize or offend women and regularly don't check lots of extremely important feminist studies for their accuracy. She digs up and presents studies and statistics that succeed in showing the average North American to be naive and manipulable on gender issues. She is an excellent, meticulous researcher and has a top notch intellect. As well, she comes across as a very good, well meaning person. Sommers convincingly argues that there is, in fact, and undeclared war against boys going on at the national and government level. Some examples: She found that nearly all of the gains made in college enrollment for African Americans over the past fifteen years have been made by black women; she also has found substantial evidence to support the benefits of same-sex schooling for boys in increased academic achievement and that England has been experimenting with this with good results. Regrettably, she also states that when some inner city schools have tried to experiment with this, powerful women's groups have quickly filed lawsuits against the schools, subsequently ending in the schools not undertaking this. Meanwhile, over the past decade the U.S. prison population has doubled from one million to two million; climbed from fifty to sixty percent African American; while staying at approximately ninety-four percent male. Furthermore, she finds that evidence strongly supports that the boys who are most at risk for juvenile delinquency and violence are boys who are separated from their fathers, and that this evidence is so strong that controlling for it erases the relationship between race and crime and low income and crime. A downside of this book is that while I think her assessment of Carol Gilligan and most of the other people she critiques is well shown to be on target, I think her critique of "Real Boys" author William Pollack is seriously flawed and biased. Ms. Sommers doesn't believe Pollack's claim that much of the adverse behavior of boys is caused by the gender straight-jacket that our society places boys into. In fact, much sociological research has shown that this is likely the case, and that the social rules that society places on boys (and men) are much more stringent than that of girls. (and women) Christina doesn't understand this. William Pollack has to know about the very well documented evidence of the adverse effects of father absence, but understandably doesn't say this too often for fear of attacks; blaming women for the plight of boys in todays political climate would inevitably have a devastating effect on his career and future publishing contracts. Of course, she is correct about the adverse effects of not allowing boys to display their natural rough and tumble play and some general aggressive instincts, but she continually misunderstands and downplays some fundamental facts about boys. For instance, she favorably quotes the best-selling book "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman and quotes on page 131 of his book (hardcover copy) about how girls at puberty become more adept at tactics like vicious gossip and ostracism, but she doesn't acknowledge or seem to believe what Goleman says on that same page and the next page of that book about how as children "... go through the elementary-school grades boys become less expressive, girls more so." And "... boys take pride in a lone, tough-minded independence and autonomy, while girls see themselves as part of a web of connectedness." As I read this book and her previous book I kept feeling that there was a voice or perspective missing. This voice can be found in a book which I think provides the best balance to this book; and this book is "Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say" by Warren Farrell. Christina writes from the feminist perspective; Warren writes from the masculist (men's liberationist) perspective. Both perspectives, I think, are equally important. Christina would do well to read and carefully examine this book, particularly his conclusions at the end of chapter eight on The Lace Curtain. There are reasons why Farrell's books can successively generate thirty straight rave (five star) reviews on amazon.com: these books reflect the male viewpoint -- their feelings and experiences. Her conclusions about the moral reeducation of children are intriguing, but questionable. Again, I think she would do well to read Farrell's book.
Rating:
Summary: Another must-read from Ms. Sommers
Review: Thank God someone is employing hard facts and legitimate sociological research techniques to debunk what are essentially tomes of blindly accepted OPINION. Without legitimate, accepted research to back their ideas up, many pseudo-feminists (or gender feminists) have taken to conducting "research" through asking a hand-selected group of girls leading questions about their thoughts and plugging those responses into the "researcher's" preconceived notions. This is known as "pathological science," which is "the 'science of things that aren't so.'" The standard methods of conducting sociological research are avoided by these women because they are men's ways of doing things, and therefore to be avoided. Or, as we used to put it on the playground, they have "boy cooties." Can't do research covered in boy cooties, doncha know. The other extremely subversive and dangerous element of this dubious academic movement is the vilification of masculinity, equating it to a pathology that must be expunged from humanity. One of the ways offered to do this is to force little boys to wear dresses and play with baby dolls at school. As any parent knows, subjecting kids to this kind of draconian social reengineering, based on unsubstantiated opinion no less, will do nothing but harm. The way to make any animal mean and neurotic is to force it to deny its very nature. Every parent and educator should read this book.
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Summary: The ideas in this book are challenging my lifelong beliefs
Review: I am a 37-year-old professional female who was raised in an all-female modern feminist household. Thus, I have been taught the established feminist doctrines from a very early age. I consider myself intelligent, but I must admit I never questioned my beliefs, until I read this book by Ms. Hoff Sommers. I found a great deal of her arguments (dispelling how girls are targets of our sexist society) to simply make sense. I am grateful that my mind has been opened to look at women's issues in a fresh way, although I am uneasy in that I am more cynical of those for which I previously had naive trust. I admire the author's guts for challenging such entrenched concepts, because she is certain to face a lot of anger. I would recommend this book for those of you who are not afraid to confront and consider ideas contrary to traditional feminist assumptions.
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Summary: Searching for the truth about feminism
Review: With the pendulum of society swinging toward feminist ideals, it is easy to lose sight of the balance that our nation should strive to attain. In her book "The War Against Boys", Christina Hoff Sommers attempts to focus on the truth of the issues rather than the media hype which portrays girls as under-privileged citizens. Feminism is backed by a large group of people certain that women are getting the short end of the stick. Any evidence to the contrary is considered a threat to women, and is often silenced before it can be revealed. Even the "experts" are not immune from their own biased opinions, and as a result, we readers are often presented with shoddy research that supports untenable conclusions. Christina Hoff Sommers pokes some interesting holes in the feminist story. Hopefully this book can help slow the swing of the pendulum before it rises too far the other way, resulting in a community which is intolerant of boys and of masculinity. Of course the author has her own bias, but the truth is somewhere between the two opinions. Before you succumb to the popular idea that women are victims of society, read this book. If you are the parent of a boy, then definitely read this book.
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