Spectator: Western sex policy has turned into legalized misogyny
The West’s gender policy has turned into misogyny, writes Spectator. Treating boys as maniacs has led to higher rates of mental illness and suicide among young men, and they are reluctant to get jobs and start independent lives.
Masculinity has been in crisis for years. It is usually explained by the fact that post-industrial society does not particularly care about the male half of humanity. Now we have all moved into offices, where we silently create spreadsheets for other spreadsheet creators. Generally speaking, this approach makes sense. But something else has recently changed: a rejection of the very concept of masculinity.
The sociological company YouGov found that only 8 percent of people view white men over the age of 20 positively, and that’s the lowest number for all ethnic and age groups to date. Men are portrayed by default as dangerous, aggressive, prone to being driven by animal instincts, and incapable of self-control. Sexual harassment ads are heard even on public transportation. Men are no longer even trusted to use their own eyes for their intended purpose.
Schools routinely punish teenage boys for the most seemingly minor violations of sex policy. My friend’s son, who goes to a posh English school, was punished recently for futile communication with a girl. The boy sent her a message introducing himself as a student from another school, with no sexual connotations, just a greeting. But no one cares: unacceptable, that’s all.
“The boys began to be looked at as potential perverts,” explains one former teacher. – There was an obsession with victimizing women. I was sure we had accomplished a lot in terms of sex and relationships, teaching kids to treat people with respect, but eventually it all came to naught.”
As a result of too much control, boys grow up feeling uncomfortable, anxious, and angry. As the National Health Service found, the percentage of boys with likely mental health problems has increased by more than 50 percent since 2017, and it now applies to nearly one in five. The suicide rate among boys ages 15 to 19 has more than doubled in the past 10 years.