Who can forget James Brown impassioned song, “It’s a Man’s World”!
“You see man made the cars, To take us over the road
Man made the train, To carry the heavy load
Man made the electric light, To take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water,
Like Noah made the ark”
And yes James did say that… “It would be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl”. However, one has to wonder, is it really? Is it still a man’s world?
Sources support that compared to girls, on average boys under-perform at school and are much worse at reading, and less likely to go to university. A professor at McGill University wrote an article focused on why boys/men are falling behind.
In Canada, according to the “2001 Census, universities have clearly become the domain of women, as they made up 58% of all graduates. And according to the 2006 Census, women accounted for 60% of university graduates between the ages of 25 and 29.”
On average, across all disciplines, there are substantially more females than males. In education, psychology, social work, and health, the predominance of females was between 75% and 80%. In English, foreign languages, communications, journalism, art, and…biology, females comprise between 60% and 75% of the students. Males predominate only in math, physical sciences, engineering, and computer science.
https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2019/01/03/why-men-are-falling-behind-in-schools/
These statistics find their genesis in early gender analysis.
According to Statistics Canada researchers, many of the differences in school performance between genders can be attributed to fundamental differences between girls and boys…
“Boys also lag behind girls on the developmental side of things in the early years. For example, from birth to three years, only 12% of boys are categorized as having advanced motor and social development, compared with 21% of girls. On average, five-year-old boys score 97.2 on a test of copying and symbol use compared with 104.3 for girls. Some 78 % of five-year-old boys often display independence in dressing compared with 87% of girls.
“Finally, boys have more behavioral problems than girls in the early years. For example, five-year-old boys display less attention (a score of 8.5) than girls (a score of 9.3). Some 16 % of 4 to 11-year-old boys display aggressive behavior compared with only 9% of girls and 14% of 4 to 11-year-old boys display hyperactivity compared with only 6% of girls.”
“By age 15, boys and girls have very different characteristics. On the academic stage, boys trail behind girls on several fronts. For example, boys have weaker performances on standardized reading tests. While 20.4% of boys score in the top 25% of the reading distribution, 30.1% of girls do so. In contrast, 30.3% of boys score in the bottom 25%, compared to 19.5% of girls. There is an equally large gender divide in terms of overall school marks.”
https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2019/01/03/why-men-are-falling-behind-in-schools/
Some have interpreted these realities and have placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of feminism and systematic female gendered bias in the structure of education. (Read the full article)
Some view this professor as perpetuating misogynistic [hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against women] and anti-feminist sentiment. However, one particular female reader’s response argued that:
“…schools are constructed to give high grades to compliant students who will always do their homework. High test scores are considered less important than doing busywork. Women are NOT smarter. They just do better at gaming the system in their behalf.”
Still, some have come to believe that “toxic masculinity” have led the charge towards these negative gender associations. Before going down the road of male victimization, others believe that historically sexism has protected boys.
“Girls were often ignored by teachers, sexually harassed and negatively stereotyped in textbooks”.
(Read the article)
So in essence, the leveling of the gender playing field has made a difference.
Having come this far, if we follow the continuum of this discussion, we are led towards evidence that show that more men than women end up in jails and prisons, and let’s not ignore the fact that black and aboriginal young males are disproportionately over-represented in these correctional institutions. (Read below)
Unequal Justice: Aboriginal and black inmates disproportionately fill Ontario jails –Toronto Star article, Saturday March 2, 2013
Canada has a black incarceration problem: The Tornotoist – article 2016Here
I am forced to admit that social and psychological effects of both male and female biases have created complex problems that cannot be fixed with simple or naïve solutions… Regardless, the rubber-meets-the-road reality is that boys –some demographic more than others- are failing more than girls not just in school, but in life.
What I am about to suggest is not the magic bullet, but a piece of this ongoing puzzle, and perhaps much needed oxygen towards a breath of improvement. We need to impact boys with positive and spiritual values. We need to help them move towards manhood and maturity on purpose and not by accident.
Personally, I remember a moment of realization when I said to myself;
“I have a wife, kids and mortgage…when did I become a man?”
Our boys need responsible and positive rites of passages. Young men need ceremonies; meaning they need intentional events where peers, and older men come around them and speak into them meaningful and declarative words of life and purpose. Check out the ceremonies I had for my son Joshua.
[By the way, I’ve written more on this topic in my book Genesis Man: The Masculine Identity.]
Furthermore, men must know by now that we are all “on call” to lead the generation following us. Although one might not be a father, it does not mean that they are absolved of the responsibility to impact our young men. Should fathers fail, (and sometimes they do) we must take up our divine mandate and embrace our social responsibility to mentor, care and love, and fill the gap in our world. Quite frankly, it does not belong to men or women, but to God.
What are your thoughts? What has been your experiences? Do you agree or disagree? Please leave your comments and feedback at the end of this page.
Call to Action
If you know of a young man (or maybe it’s your son) who would benefit from this type of engagement, please let us know and we’ll work to make this happen.
The Genesis Man Project 