Rating: 
Summary: Lots of unwarranted conclusions drawn
Review: Sommers claims that boys (men) are now being unfairly discriminated against. Her proof? This alone: that girls get better grades and go to college more often than boys. What Sommers seems to ignore is that girls have always gotten better grades than boys -- in the heydey of male dominance AND in the current era. The difference between now and 50 years ago is that 50 years ago girls' grades would fall when they reached puberty. Many biological, deterministic explanations were given for this (of course!), mostly claiming that girls simply physically matured earlier (including their brains) so that when boys caught up with them physically, they also caught up and exceeded them intellectually (reaching their "natural" level as more intelligent than girls). Well, obviously those explanations are wrong. What probably caused girls to do poorly once they reached puberty was the knowledge that boys didn't like smart girls. It was even explicitly taught to girls: don't be smart or the boys won't like you. Sommers' book is based entirely on the fact that girls do better in school. Her assumption is that there is something wrong with our society's treatment of boys because they are doing worse. But here's another explanation: ADOLESCENT GIRLS ARE DOING BETTER THAN BOYS IN SCHOOL BECAUSE THEY ARE FINALLY REACHING THEIR FULL ACADEMIC POTENTIAL, NOT BECAUSE BOYS ARE SUDDENLY DOING WORSE IN SCHOOL. I don't know of any evidence that boys are doing worse in school than they did before the advent of feminism; girls are simply doing better. High school students who were given old SAT tests did BETTER than high school students did a generation or two ago. Kids are getting smarter, and that goes for boys as well as girls. Of course, this raises the interesting question of why girls are better than boys in school. That's a good research topic. But there's no reason to think that it has anything to do with feminism, since this difference was there way before feminism arose. If Sommers wants to show that men are now being discriminated against, she needs to look at more than one arena, not just grades. Are the girls who get better grades actually earning more money when they graduate? If not, then all they got from their four years of college were a bunch of student loans and four years in which they didn't get any job experience. A final thing that really bothered me about Sommers' book was a statement that is so reprehensible that she couched it in someone else's words. A friend of hers (or someone like that) said that women shouldn't complain about men because the great inventions, discoveries, etc. were done by men. The implication was that this was an innate difference. I thought "aha!" when I read this. I think that that's why Sommers (and many others) is so disturbed by boys doing worse than girls in school. She believes that boys really are superior, and if their natural affinities for aggression etc. are encouraged, then they will take over once again and lead civilization into greatness. Of course, if women never do anything important for the world, then it is a tragic waste if they do better in school. The people who are the movers and shakers aren't being trained for the job. Once again, women are pushed back into the role of being unimportant. I think it's great that girls have finally reached their potential in school. When will they reach their potential in the workplace? Not as long as people like Sommers have a secret belief that boys have superior qualities of strength and aggression which help them succeed in the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Boys' Advocate Sorely Needed
Review: As a father of two boys and a school social worker in a junior high school, I have witnessed first hand the ever-popular and politically correct paradigm of boy-blaming and girl-praising in schools. This compelling book effectively captures the real problems that boys face in our increasingly girl-focused schools in an intelligent, lucid style. Chistina Hoff Summers uses facts and common sense in her arguments against the notion that boys are just privileged perpetrators damaged by patriarchy. However, she never crosses the proverbial "boys will be boys" line and hands excuses to boys for violence or promiscuity or harrassment. But she does appropriately affirm that there are plenty of masculine traits and qualities that can and should be encouraged and honed in our schools, but unfortunately they are not. A very well-written and thoughtful book that hopefully will grab the attention of more and more educators and policy makers. My only disappointment with this book is its title. Calling the tendencies to disregard the needs of boys a conspiracy-like "war" seems a bit extreme. The book is much more cerebral than this alarmist title seems to suggest.
Rating: 
Summary: understated and necessary
Review: Sommers has another winner here. The entire book is well documented and nicely written. Sommers wisely leaves the misandry of gender feminism unanalysed as it would only clutter the book. But she takes on the misleading claims of the politicizers of classrooms and wins the argument with embarrassing ease. The case can be far more strongly put. I have been teaching logic for fifteen years. Almost every term a female (and usually a handful of them) leads the class in points earned for solving problems correctly. It has been very rare that a male does so. The feminist notion that logic is an evil, male enterprise designed to hurt ladies is a total fraud. Sommers is to be appreciated as one of the more significant truth tellers of our times. She has spoken truth to power. This book is popularly written and a real page turner. Bravo, Ms. Sommers!
Rating:
Summary: not very informative
Review: first, let me say that i'm a supporter of the whole reviving ophelia phenomenon. i really wanted this book to challenge that idea, and i guess christina hoff sommers does that, but it seems like it's more of a personal attack on NOW and the UAWW. this is probably good if you're an elementary school teacher and want to read on the subject, but it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of what actually goes on in the outside world. as a girl who read reviving ophelia and was taken aback at how much i related to so much of it, it seems to me like christina hoff sommers wants things back the way they were. the world would be better if gender didn't matter, but she's not making it seem like this is going to balance things out.
Rating:
Summary: Lie Revealed; Reality is ... Boys need our attention!
Review: As a social worker that works with at-risk teens (98% of them are boys), I have found Sommers reporting to be accurate and concurs with issues I find each day I come into contact with a male teen. It is egregious to think that a well-respected feminist such as Carol Gilligan has used her status to write unfounded, unsubstantiated facts about the lives of boys and girls. According to Sommers, Gilligan has failed to use empirical data in her writing; has refused to publish her findings; and, continues to write more and more about what and who boys are and need without a shred of evidence from well documented studies. The facts revealed in this book will undoubtedly anger many people who have put their trust in Gilligan. More to the point, Sommers has revealed the reality that boys do need our attention. Many teachers, from my perspective, fail to recognize the power they have in their role as teachers and the influence they have on the lives of boys, in general. Sommers is correct to state we need to begin to have REAL equality in education (which has been sorely missing) and begin to teach and treat boys and girls as people who have individual and collective goals, who express and experience life sometimes the same, but often in different ways. We need to appreciate the special natures of both boys and girls, and allow them to develop in a way that is true to themselves. Some will refute Sommers for her lack of self-studies on the issue, but she has certainly given substantial food for thought from those who have done studies that support her thesis while failing to support the purported findings of Gilligan and others. It does seem a simple solution that Sommers would suggest that boys just need moral guidance and discipline to help them navigate their lives; it's nothing new, but it does speak to the fact that we've thrown out the baby with the bath water when it comes to certain things that have worked in the lives of boys. I was disappointed, however, to note that Sommers didn't come to realize that boys need to learn interpesonal and intrapersonal nurturing skills, as well. Sommers would do well to do an expose of the reality that the lack of good father role models in the lives of boys has had a greater degree of damaging impact on their son's (and daughter's)lives. Revolving substitute boy friends as fathers in the lives of so many boys hasn't been working; men (fathers) need to work on their interpersonal and intrapersonal nurturing, communication, and problem solving skills that they might "stay" in the lives of their children where the greater "fatherly love" can affect the lives of their sons (and daughters). Thank Christian Hoff Sommers for a great book, it speaks with a thunderous roar!
Rating:
Summary: Sommers Tells the Truth!
Review: I know that many people(feminists, mainly), will immediately discount most that Sommers says in her book. I believe what Sommers has to say, however, since I went through the trials that she describes in detail. I was always treated as the opposing sex, that should be knocked down a notch or two. I have been told all my life that girls are at a disadvantage in school...but I began to wonder why they always got higher grades and more girls went to college. Sommers gives the reasons for this fallacy in great detail, citing research that has been done recently. At least someone is speaking up for the males in our society. Maybe because of Sommers, a little boy just growing up now will get the chances that I was not given, just because of my gender. I thank Mrs. Sommers from the bottom of my heart for writing this book, and at least trying to save our society from the feminists.
Rating:
Summary: The Gender Inequity in Gender Equity
Review: "The War Against Boys" highlights the gender inequity inherent in gender equity programs. According to the National Science Foundation, the gender gaps in math and science have been eliminated. However, the gender gaps in reading and writing (where boys trail girls) have not improved in the last 30 years. While nearly every school is trying to encourage girls in math and science, it is virtually impossible to find a school or teacher in the United States trying to get boys to read and write. The NEA's well known Read Across America program, with the Girl Scouts as the primary partner, hardly involves boys at all. Ms. Sommers' work emphasizes these types of disparities and the bias against boys inherent in the education community. While most other works dealing with gender equity are based on unsupported assumptions, she deals only with peer reviewed statistics to support her ideas. While the "antiboy" elements of the education establishment continue to attack her politics, they have been unable to deal with the substance of her work. As a prime example, they have been unable to explain why no progress(or effort) has been made in reducing the very large gender gap in reading and writing.
Rating:
Summary: I have 3 of each -- this confirms what I've learned
Review: I have six children -- three of each. I just finished this book and it confirms the differences I noted between girls and boys. My daughters were not ignored in school and didn't have self-esteem problems. They were all excellent students and the rave of the teachers. The boys were ignored because they were bored with school and the teaching methods. They would have been better off in boys only classes with a different approach to teaching. Sommers' book confirms to me that we need more choice by parents to direct the education of there children. Parents who don't want the "girl power" version should be free to choose the school that best fits the needs of their child.
Rating:
Summary: Hoff Sommers sets the record straight & defends our sons !
Review: In defense of boys Christina Hoff Sommers uses a hard hitting, show me the facts approach to expose many of the so called child experts, such as Carol Gilligan, as incompetent researchers who have their own biased agendas. Ms. Hoff Sommers also points out that unfortunately governments and educational institutions, in their attempt to be politically correct, accept and implement much of this unproven research. Hoff Sommers provides many examples of what one college psychologist refers to as "illusion data" and how young boys are often exposed to this destructive propaganda through the school system in their early years . She also includes research on teachers like Vivian Gussin Paley who have a realistic grasp on the differences between boys and girls and encourages them to be themselves. Hoff Summers offers biological evidence as to the differences between boys and girls and states that you simply can't deconstruct boys. Her inclusion of a quote by Gloria Steinem that, "We need to raise boys like we raise girls." is a good example of people ignoring these important biological differences. The underlying message I took from the book is that if you do not want your son forced to become feminized and punished for being a boy, then find out what is going on in your son's school and become involved. If you are part of the system then stand up for boys who are without representation. You just might have a Carol Gilligan, male or female, setting a school agenda that has nothing to do with respecting individual rights and promoting healthy boys. David Popenoe's Life Without Father is a good supplement to The War Against Boys by providing information on how we harm boys and the consequences that result. Christina Hoff Sommers lets the world know that male bashing at any stage is not acceptable but is especially repugnant when it is directed at young boys who are without defense. Thank you Ms. Hoff Sommers!
Rating:
Summary: OK - How many 'a reviewer' equals MALE?
Review: YES YES yes yes OK! WE are all EQUAL! Always have been or at least, always should have been. Christina has it (virtually) on the dot....except/accept the fact that the job goes to the best of us, Men are from a different plane(t) from women. We have to work together. Conclusion: Use LOGIC: Who earns the most? Look to the future, dont dwell in the past. I hate feminism as such, I like and abide by the obvious; Men, you can not beat us - but that shouldnt be a question as to if you can anyhow, we cant beat you....WORK TO-GE-THER! C'mon, stop winging, stand up to us, but dont shout too loud will you, cos afterall, as you say, we are only women! As CH's Book and title says - BOYS/WAR IOW Men/Equal.
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