The Decline of Men: How the American Male Is Tuning Out, Giving Up, and Flipping Off His Future

( 3 )

Overview

  • Why are so many of today's supermen superclueless?
  • Why are so many ambitious young women unable to find boyfriends as successful and independent as they are?
  • Why do so many men prefer the escapist digitized world of SPIKE TV, Jackass, and Grand Theft Auto to the reality of their own lives?

In an eye-opening exploration of contemporary American manhood, The Decline of Men shows how men are struggling to ...

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The Decline of Men: How the American Male Is Tuning Out, Giving Up, and Flipping Off His Future

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More About This Book

Overview

  • Why are so many of today's supermen superclueless?
  • Why are so many ambitious young women unable to find boyfriends as successful and independent as they are?
  • Why do so many men prefer the escapist digitized world of SPIKE TV, Jackass, and Grand Theft Auto to the reality of their own lives?

In an eye-opening exploration of contemporary American manhood, The Decline of Men shows how men are struggling to redefine what being a man means in today's world. Their confusion has led to rampant male malaise, which has left many men feeling alienated and disconnected. Unable to communicate their frustrated thoughts or emotions effectively, too many guys are slacking off and opting out of their manly obligations, producing an entire generation of men who are ditching their own potential and failing the moms, wives, and girlfriends who love them.

The Decline of Men is a wake-up call to this distressing state of affairs. As award-winning journalist Guy Garcia reports, rather than working hard to achieve top grades or a promotion at work, too many American males squander their energy tracking their fantasy football league scores or mastering the latest video game. Men drop out of school at a far higher rate than women and are far likelier to die early because of poor health habits. Even the male Y chromosome is said to be at risk of disappearing altogether one day.

Packed with startling statistics, informed by pop culture, and narrated in the entertaining style for which Guy Garcia is known, The Decline of Men sheds light on a problem that has wreaked havoc on the American family and urges men and women to look past the gender wars to address this national emergency together.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Garcia (The New Mainstream) explores disturbing trends of men leading increasingly socially isolated lives and dropping out of high school and college in record numbers, naming them victims of an "invisible epidemic." According to the author, modern men have failed to forge a new and productive role in the 21st century. Garcia charts the rise of feminism and the changing societal roles of both men and women, illustrating how and why men have become so confused about what defines masculinity; having lost their traditional role as provider and protector, men flirt with hollow substitute identities-drawing on "Jackass culture" ("men pretending to be boys"), gangster culture ("boys pretending to be men") and "metrosexual" obsessions with grooming and body image-that have reductively redefined manhood and led men away from compassion, responsibility and family. Garcia wisely avoids degrading feminism or pitting men against women; instead, he offers an astute and well-researched meditation on how men might reclaim their identity and place in modern America and why such a transformation is important to future generations of both men and women. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780061353154
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 10/13/2009
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 300
  • Sales rank: 1,336,681
  • Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 7.90 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

Guy Garcia is an award-winning journalist, novelist, and multimedia entrepreneur and a former staff writer at Time magazine. He is the founder and CEO of MentaMetrix, Inc., a multicultural research and marketing firm based in New York City. He is the author of the nonfiction book The New Mainstream and two novels, Skin Deep and Obsidian Sky.

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Table of Contents

Introduction xi

1 Samson Shorn 1

2 Eve's Rib 29

3 There's Something Terribly Wrong with Me 60

4 Mechanical Bulls 92

5 Punked 127

6 Fight Club 154

7 Boys Will Be Boys 190

8 X-Men 225

9 Samson Unbound 253

Acknowledgments 285

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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted September 20, 2008

    Review by BookLove Staff Member Jason Lush

    In his study of the American male Guy Garcia exposes the ugly truth that all men want to hide but desperately need shown, our weakness in today¿s age of networking and social strong arming. The author adequately displays how the feminist movement empowered women but in essence castrated an entire nation of men. We live in an age where all the strengths that helped us make it out of the caves has made us all but useless in the world we created. Guy Garcia points to a lot of statistics making the work informative but a little dry, then blind sides you with two chapters about Mattel¿s Ken and Superman, referring to them as both real men and symbols of what we are and what we used to be, respectively a useless metrosexual and an idealized figure of manhood. The fact that he spoke of both characters as if they were true flesh and blood men seemed a little silly and out of place in this particular work. In the end we see that our Pop Icons are mirrors of what we think a ¿Man¿ should be but can never live up to ourselves. In short the implication is that instead of living up to our traditional ideas of manhood we should just redefine what it is to be a man. Seems a bit lazy to me, but hell what ever makes you sleep better at night.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 19, 2013

    Insightul

    Insightul

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 13, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

    The Decline of Men - LocalPlan.org

    "The Decline of Men" isn't what you expect. When I first read the summary I envisioned some sort of counter-feminist rebuttal of women's rights, but what I found was an interesting venture into the plight of the modern day man. The author (Guy Garcia) dives headfirst into understanding the implications of modern society on the male gender and examines how work toward gender equality has impacted men. Written with a focus on modern society and pop-culture The Decline of Men manages to inform while entertaining.

    Garcia weaves together a variety of topics from men's health to action figures in order to show how men are perceived in today's society. He doesn't make excuses for men, but instead shows how various elements of progress for women have displaced men or created confusion regarding their place in society. He looks at where men are losing traction (such as jobs and education) and he looks into areas where men have avoided taking care of themselves (such as preventative health). The cross-section of information that Garcia references is worth picking up the book in and of itself, his explosion of facts provides plenty of resources for additional research.

    Instead of throwing together a droll recollection of history and explanation of gender, Garcia manages to present a powerfully entertaining glimpse of the male gender. I found it reminiscent of the stylistic prose found in "Freakonomics". He also works to explain where females are in relationship to males and where both genders are headed. I didn't find "The Decline of Men" to harp on any one particular perspective but in the same vein it can be a little hard on men. The facts concerning men can be somewhat difficult to accept as Garcia shows that the male position at the top of the foodchain is rapidly dissolving. He attempts to show the weaknesses in the male position and how those weaknesses should be addressed in order to prevent a disruption in establishing equality in gender relationships.

    If you are interested in understanding how gender affects our position in modern society, "The Decline of Men" provides an excellent insight. While it is important to understand gender in a traditional sense, Garcia also enables the reader to think critically about how gender will shape society in the future. He allows us to understand that we must be constantly aware of how gender alters our communications and shapes our perceptions. "The Decline of Men" is really a warning about society overall. We can't ignore the needs of one group just because they are doing okay at that particular moment, Garcia points out that all of our actions need to be holistic and comprehensive to prevent marginalization of a previously dominant group.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
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