What About Men?

A Feminist Answers the Question

By: Caitlin Moran

Narrated by: Caitlin Moran

An Instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller

With her signature candor and wit, New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Moran attempts to answer society’s weirdly unasked question: What About Men?

Like anyone who discusses the problems of girls and women in public, Caitlin Moran has often been confronted with the question: “But what about men?” And at first, tbh, she dgaf. Boys, and men, are fine, right? Feminism doesn’t need to worry about them.

However, around the time she heard an angry young man saying he was “boycotting” International Women’ Day because “It's easier to be a woman than a man these days,” she started to wonder: are unhappy boys, and men, also making unhappy women? The statistics on male misery are grim: boys are falling behind in school, are at greater risk of depression, greater risk of suicide, and, most pertinently, are increasingly at risk from online misogynist radicalization. Will the Sixth Wave of feminism need to fix the men, if it wants to fix the women?

Moran began to investigate—talking to her husband, close male friends, and her daughters' friends: bringing up very difficult and candid topics, and receiving vulnerable and honest responses. So: what about men? Why do they only go to the doctor if their partner makes them? Why do they never discuss their penises with each other—but make endless jokes about their balls? What is porn doing for young men? Is sexual strangling a good hobby for young people to have? Are men ever allowed to be sad? Are they ever allowed to lose? Have Men's Rights Activists confused “power” with “empowerment”? Are Mid-Life Crises actually quite cool? And what’s the deal with Jordan Peterson’s lobster?

In this thoughtful, warm, provocative book, Moran opens a genuinely new debate about how to reboot masculinity for the twenty-first century, so that “straight white man” doesn’t automatically mean bad news—but also uses the opportunity to make a lot of jokes about testicles, and trousers. Because if men have neither learned to mine their deepest anxieties about masculinity for comedy, nor answered the question “What About Men?,” then it’s up to a busy woman to do it.

Very thought provoking and funny

I really enjoyed this read/listen. Moran is a funny person and her takes on things cracked me up, she also gets appropriately serious at some of the darker material. She constantly checks herself and reiterates when something is her belief and opinion as opposed to pushing “facts” across. I loved the ending— I think everyone would get something out of this one.

A Must Read for All Humans

At times sad, depressing & frustrating, but so necessary & true. Ultimately satisfying & optimistic, this should be a requirement for anyone interested in gender studies or indeed, anyone who wants to better understand & support the men & boys in their lives.

The book I'm going to recommend to my friends

Caitlin really did a phenomenal job at understanding what it's like to be a "regular guy." This book does a phenomenal job of putting words to many of the feelings men like me experience without making it too weird. Moran does a tremendous job understanding that if this book were too serious it'd alienate a majority of the demographic this book is meant to reach, but by keeping the feel of the book as a funny conversation with a "cool aunt", it becomes palatable for men to discuss the crappy things in their lives. This book wasn't going to convert people that are too far gone into doing some self introspection, but for those in the middle, this might convince them to take the time to evaluate what they were feeling. Not to mention this book had me genuinely laughing out loud with some of its jokes. Update: Ben Shapiro hates this, so if you were on the fence, you might as well read it.

Wow. A feminist tries to understand men.

She really seems to care. I did not expect this. It's as good as Richard Reves or Warren Farrell. I actually felt herd.

A must read for all men.

Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Be Curious about all the differences between men and women and embrace them. In doing so, the similarities that you discover will bring you that much closer to those you love .