Rewind: Reimagining Boyhood with Ruth Whippman

About this episode

Rachael Shepard-Ohta discusses the challenges of raising boys in today's culture with guest Ruth Whippman, focusing on masculinity and its implications.

What does it mean to raise boys in a world where masculinity feels impossible to get right? This week on No One Told Us, Rachael is joined by author and cultural critic Ruth Whippman to talk about her powerful new book, BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity. We’re digging deep into the unspoken challenges of parenting boys today—gendered expectations that begin before birth, the emotional isolation of boys in our culture, and the ways that patriarchy harms everyone, not just women. Ruth brings a compassionate, sharp, and often funny lens to topics like toxic masculinity, feminism, screen time, school struggles, and why our young boys are struggling so much right now. Inside this episode….. Ruth’s own experience raising 3 boys as a feminist Unhelpful stereotypes like “boys will be boys” and how they harm our children Ruth’s opinion on Netflix’s show "Adolescence" and its portrayal of modern boyhood Why today’s world is a “perfect storm” for young boys and men to be radicalized How do we hold young men accountable without sending them into shame and shutdown? How patriarchy harms both men and women, and Ruth’s recommendations for both #boymoms and…

People in this episode

Host: Rachael Shepard-Ohta

Guest: Ruth Whippman

Topics covered

• parenting boys
• masculinity
• toxic masculinity
• feminism
• patriarchy
• emotional isolation

Keywords

• raising boys
• gendered expectations
• emotional isolation
• patriarchy
• screen time
• school struggles

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity, Adolescence

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