BoyMum

Author: Ruth Whippman

How do we raise our sons to be compassionate, responsible men in a world where toxic masculinity is still the norm? And why are young men today more troubled, less confident and more radicalized than ever before?

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'BoyMum is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read as a parent' The Times

BoyMum is about boys and young men - how we are raising them, and what it means to be a man-in-the-making in an era when #MeToo has challenged our tolerance for toxic masculinity, yet the pressure on young men to be 'masculine' has never been more intense.

It is also a mother's perspective. Ruth Whippman is the proud/overwhelmed, feminist mother of three boys and her family life can be a daily confrontation with the triumph of nature over nurture. All too aware that her parenting today will shape the men her sons become tomorrow, she explores the expectations placed on boys - must boys be boys?; the messages we send girls but not boys (but they really need to hear too); boys in the classroom and boys online; incels; entitlement, sexual harassment and "cancel culture" and what radicalizes young men.

Blending memoir with cultural analysis, and approaching her subject with wit, honesty and open-mindedness, this is a sympathetic investigation into where we are going wrong with raising boys, and how trying to change those patterns must be one of society's most urgent cultural projects.

Praise for Ruth Whippman and The Pursuit of Happiness

- "A whip-sharp British Bill Bryson" The Sunday Times

- "Ruth Whippman is whip-smart, her writing nothing short of genius" Huffington Post

- The Pursuit of Happiness was a New York Post Best Book of 2016, a New York Times Editors' Choice and Paperback Row pick, one of Newsweek's 'Nine Books to Change the Way You Think in 2016', a Sunday Times top summer read and a Daily Mail 'Must Read'.

- Ruth Whippman manages the trick of being funny about what is, deep down, a serious problem: the American quest for happiness isn't working" Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks

- "I LOVED this book. I found it SO WELL WRITTEN, so witty and funny and reading it I was often envious of Ruth Whippman's facility with language. It was a hugely engaging read, accessible and so relevant... I've been quite evangelical about it." Marian Keyes, best-selling author of Grown Ups

Critic Reviews

A brilliant, powerful and very timely take. Everyone raising boys should read this, and all men too Sam Delaney, author of Sort Your Head Out
BoyMum is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read as a parent Helen Rumbelow, The Times
An urgent call to reassess how boys are raised and socialized Publisher's Weekly
Nuanced, compassionate and brave, this brilliant book explodes the dogmatic, stereotypical tropes that restrict and smother boys from a positive, feminist perspective. It is warm, meticulously researched, and above all, hopeful. -- Laura Bates

About the Author

Ruth Whippman is a British author and journalist living in the United States. A former BBC documentary director and producer, her essays, cultural criticism and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, Time magazine, the Guardian and the Huffington Post. Her first book, The Pursuit of Happiness, was a New York Post Best Book of the Year, a New York Times Editor's Choice, a Daily Mail Must Read and a Sunday Times Top Summer Read. She lives in California with her husband and three sons.