Audio: Instacast with Conn Iggulden on the feminization of boys
posted at 4:24 pm on May 17, 2007 by Allahpundit
Anyone read his book? Number five at Amazon and holding steady. I assumed from the cover and blurb that it was some sort of hipster pomo snark attack on traditional boys’ behavior, but no: he’s quite serious, and even more serious about the harm he thinks is being done by frustrating boys’ risk-taking instincts. It’s a breezy 25 minutes, although our three leftist readers may want to skip it since the conversation depends on the assumption that gender identity isn’t perfectly malleable and that there are, in fact, honest to goodness biologically based differences in the sexes’ behavior. The military angle comes at 21:50, in case you’re pressed for time.
Blowback
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That’s the kind of talk that gets you only three leftist readers!
Alex K on May 17, 2007 at 4:31 PM
I think my age group (born early 1980′s) is the last age group where kids were still allowed to do ‘dangerous’ things.
We played dodgeball and climbed on metal jungle gyms. Our slides were really tall (at least they seemed that way to me). The list goes on.
By the time I got to high school, I started seeing stories about dodgeball being outlawed at schools because it promotes violence. Tag was out too. Metal jungle gym equipment was replaced with safe (and horribly boring) plastic equipment. The height of slides (if a park even has them) have been greatly reduced. If kids do get to play a sport like soccer, many municipalities are starting to require helmets during game play.
It’s no shock to me at all that we raise “play it safe” kids and then wonder why there is an increasing number of kids that graduate high school (and even college) but are content to live in their parent’s house and continue to play it safe.
JadeNYU on May 17, 2007 at 4:35 PM
>helmets during game play
Next thing you know, high schools will prohibit tackling in football games. It’s too violent, and, of course, the kid that got tackled would feel bad about himself.
Doghouse on May 17, 2007 at 4:43 PM
I still wear a helmet and goggles when I play 4-square.
That’s how I roll.
natesnake on May 17, 2007 at 4:43 PM
I wear full body armor when I play D&D…although I also wear it to bed, so…never mind.
stonemeister on May 17, 2007 at 4:48 PM
I call it Pussifacation. And I have to tell you, this guy will never surrender to it! What ever happen to men being men, and women being women? It’s crazy! Well, gotta go, have some laundry to do and some cookies in the oven….
soulsirkus on May 17, 2007 at 4:49 PM
And the really funny part?
I remained single, by choice, for 25 of my 28 years as an adult (after the age of 20…)…
And one thing I’ve learned is that all women, whether liberal or conservative, want a stong man. I dated literaly hundreds of women, and when push came to shove, they wanted a man around. They wanted someone to open the doors… and bring them flowers… and kill that big spider.
And yes, I dated liberals a lot… they were often more… open minded sexualy… so a lot of fun…
But then agian… I’m a RETRO Sexual…
Romeo13 on May 17, 2007 at 4:56 PM
Oh… and I’m currently teaching my son Renasaince Fencing… big fun and if ya don’t come back with bruises… you aint trying…
Romeo13 on May 17, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Aren’t we down to two with that firecracker honora banished for all of time?
JaHerer22 on May 17, 2007 at 4:59 PM
What ever happened to Lawn Darts?
CUS on May 17, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Hmmm.
Mazztek on May 17, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Don’t we still have Nonfactor and Bradky, besides yourself?
Freelancer on May 17, 2007 at 5:10 PM
The liberals in Canada this winter were talking about making helmets mandatory for kids sledding. That’ll happen..
It only happened a few times, but we’d have fire-cracker fights where we’d light the small spinning fire-crackers and toss them at each others legs. We all lived.
Canadian Infidel on May 17, 2007 at 5:26 PM
honora got banished?
Also, let’s not forget gmcjetpilot.
Rick on May 17, 2007 at 5:31 PM
Since when?
Esthier on May 17, 2007 at 5:31 PM
Quote of the decade. Awesome.
I teach @ 1,000 elementary kids. I was discussing with a kindergarten teacher this morning how whiny the kids are. They complain constantly. This morning a five year old came up to me and said “SHE DRAWED ON MY FOREHEAD!!” I looked at the little nipper and said, “there isn’t anything on your forhead, Sir.” He replied, “well…she TRIED to drawed on it!”
Uh huh.
robblefarian on May 17, 2007 at 5:41 PM
If you haven’t already, read Christina Hoff Summers book, “The War Against Boys.” A very good book in which she discusses how boys are now being shortchanged and belittled in schools.
One of the reasons boys fall behind in schools especially in courses such as reading is that the books that are used do not appeal to them. Boys want to read books with action, sports oriented stories, outdoors stories, stories involving competition. They also thrive in a learning environment where they can exercise their competitive muscles. They also need a male role model (teacher, coach, principal) that they can look up to.
We are beginning to see the ill effects of this “War against Boys” as our colleges now average a ratio of 60% female students to 40% male with the number of male students dropping. I need not tell you the dire future if this emasculation of the western male continues.
Matt Helm on May 17, 2007 at 6:05 PM
This is what comes from delivering children during the day unto the government school bureaucracy, and letting the welfare bureaucracy tell their parents how to treat them the rest of the day. Those bureaucracies are dominated by females, whose philosophy seems to come down to
The Monster on May 17, 2007 at 6:13 PM
“You can throw Nature out with a pitchfork, but she will keep coming back.” It seems men are going to continue to be the rulers in one guise or another, due to at least five causes. They’re reported to have parity with women in average intelligence, greater variability in intelligence than women (so that there are both more male morons and more male geniuses), greater aggressiveness, and greater confidence in the face of danger. Those four qualities are united with a fifth cause, a desire: Men tend to have a greater desire to rule than women do.
Thus, it seems to be given to women to exercise influence only over which men rule and the character of their rule. In particular, if large numbers of women do their best to influence boys to be easily ruled by women, then in the aggregate, they’ll succeed only in producing a class of men subservient to other men, who have the ability and upbringing required for rule.
In this time, it appears that American and European women are preparing their boys for subservience to muslim men and the Islamic male par excellence, who is of course Allah. I have a growing appreciation for Mark Steyn’s opinion that Western women will be surprised in coming years by trends of conversion to Islam by Western men. If men are discouraged from being men in the Christian and secular West, it appears we’ll see an intensifying contest for men’s hearts and minds among Jesus, Oprah, and Allah.
Kralizec on May 17, 2007 at 10:53 PM
About a month ago a girl told my 13 y.o. son that is was okay for girls to hit boys but that boys couldn’t hit girls.
My son-the smart a** that he is-asked if she was daring him to hit her.
She was.
He obliged.
Nothing major-just enough to make his point…and prove hers.
HE got the referal-not her for starting it.
He was outraged-after all she DID dare him.
And why the double standards?
After I warned him that one does not hit people without provocation(dares don’t count)-I agreed with him about the double standards.
They’re out there for all to see.
Btw-my senior year of high school I used my mothers’ then 30-somthing year old girl scout pocket knife as a key chain.
The blade was too dull to cut paper.
It hung from my beltloop in the open.
No one said a thing about it.
My son mentioned that now, twenty years later, my ‘keychain’ would probably get me expelled.
I was part of the last group to not have to deal with’zero tolerance’, and ‘hateful ham sandwiches’, and security guards.
I started high school in ’1984′(really)-my son gets to live it
It really breaks my heart-and pisses me off royally.
annoyinglittletwerp on May 17, 2007 at 11:24 PM
I discarded many of my received opinions about the sexes when I read the first edition of this book a few years ago.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Men-Rule-Theory-Dominance/dp/0812692373/ref=ed_oe_p/002-8563381-0367229
Kralizec on May 17, 2007 at 11:24 PM
My son was born a week ago and I am ready thinking about finding an all boys Catholic/private school or homeschooling if that is not possible.
Conservative men have to stand up to the feminization of our culture which, unfortunately, includes a lot of conservative women.
Bill C on May 18, 2007 at 12:16 AM
Yummy. Signed: Andrew Sullivan
tom scott on May 18, 2007 at 10:13 AM
I know this is off subject and already been asked, but what did Honora do to get banned? I disgreed with her on most issues, but she never said anything I thought could get her banned.
Lancer on May 18, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Romeo13,
Where do you learn Renaissance fencing? and how is it different from modern fencing?
archon2001 on May 18, 2007 at 1:22 PM
Aw, that’s an awesome book. (It’s good for tomboys, too.) I can’t listen to the audio at work, but I didn’t find anything outrageous about the book.
Killing and skinning a rabbit, maybe. While I think that it’s something that one should know how to do, I still feel that suppressing the urge to kill small animals for fun is a good thing. 99% of people could do it without turning into Jeff Dahmer, but that last 1% gets really messy.
Tanya on May 18, 2007 at 2:07 PM
People who make snarky comments about Jerry Falwell hours after his death belong at daily kos.
Buck Turgidson on May 19, 2007 at 12:27 AM
And she took shackler with her! HA
Buck Turgidson on May 19, 2007 at 12:30 AM
In its first edition, Why Men Rule was titled The Inevitability of Patriarchy. I like the title The Inevitability of Patriarchy better for its crushing weight; the vanity that supports the academic “challenge” to patriarchy seems to need crushing.
http://www.amazon.com/Why-Men-Rule-Theory-Dominance/dp/0812692373/ref=ed_oe_p/002-8563381-0367229
Kralizec on May 20, 2007 at 5:13 PM