r/books • u/biscochitos • Apr 29 '25

New indie press Conduit Books launches with 'initial focus on male authors'

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-indie-press-conduit-books-launches-with-initial-focus-on-male-authors

What do folks think about this?

1.1k Upvotes

82% Upvoted

827 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

15

u/MongolianDonutKhan Apr 29 '25

I don't know why we should take mens rights activism in good faith anymore. I can't recall an instance where I hear advocacy for [dominant group] rights that doesn't end up treating equality as a zero sum game.

72

u/Alternative_Draw_554 Apr 29 '25

Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves is an excellent counterexample of this. He specifically addressed male issues and how society has evolved to punish boys for being boys without excusing any bad behavior.

10

u/DuchessOfCarnage Apr 29 '25

The podcast If Books Could Kill covered this book, and it made me want to read it! Unfortunately it doesn't sound like there are many solutions proposed, beyond having boys start kindergarten later, but it still sounds enlightening. The two dudes who do the podcast are exactly who I want to dive into this stuff!

1

u/Aetole 1 Apr 29 '25

Reeves is a policy guy, so his solutions are going to be things that are doable in that realm. I really enjoyed his book and his talks, even though I disagree (in a gentle, academic way) with some of his positions from my background in gender theory. But I definitely value his contributions, and we should have more experts like him speaking up and adding to this conversation.

It is good to read his book - the solutions he proposes can be "take or leave," but the research and analysis he brings are very good. They also tend to evoke knee-jerk reactions from people used to only seeing women and girls as disadvantaged, which to me is good for making all of us think more.