Publisher's Synopsis
'BoyMum is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read as a parent' The Times
"Utterly fascinating for anyone raising sons' Gaby Hinsliff
BoyMum is about what it means to grow up male in an era when #MeToo has zeroed 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 story. As a feminist mum of three sons, Ruth Whippman is all too aware that her parenting today will shape the men her sons become tomorrow, but daily life can often feel like the triumph of nature over nurture.
Blending memoir, reporting and cultural analysis, she investigates the impossibly contradictory pressures young men now face, and the blind spots in male socialization that are leaving boys lonely and adrift. But as she digs into mental health, screens, school, sex, friendship, porn, 'cancel culture' and the manosphere, she finds her simple certainties about male privilege seriously challenged.
Empathetic, witty and curious, BoyMum asks how we can give boys a healthier, more expansive story about their own lives.
'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
'Nuanced, compassionate and brave, this brilliant book explodes the dogmatic, stereotypical tropes that restrict and smother boys' Laura Bates
'A fabulous and much-needed book. Ruth Whippman combines personal with critical cultural commentary so effectively and beautifully. As we raise children in today's complex age to be good citizens, this is a hugely important conversation' Pragya Agarwal, author of Sway and M(otherhood)
'Provocative and probing . . . Ruth Whippman . . . discovers loneliness and failed good intentions, but also a longing for connection, and moments of grace. Whippman shows that we ought to think harder about who we want our boys to become' Patricia Duckerman, author of Why French Children Don't Throw Food
'Ruth Whippman is a rare talent with an even rarer set of skills, deftly combining forensic academic research, dazzling wit and disarmingly punchy prose that leaps from the page and leaves you wondering how something so clever and so urgent can also be so much fun to read' Charlotte Philby, author of Edith and Kim
'Beautifully conveys the internal battle many intelligent feminist mothers [find] themselves having when raising boys' Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, Guardian
