NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Now in paperbackâPeggy Orenstein, author of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller Girls & Sex, turns her focus to the sexual lives of young men. âEye-openingâŚ. Every few pages, the boy world cracks open a little bitâŚ. Even in the most anxiety-provoking moments of Boys & Sex , itâs clear that Orenstein believes in the goodness of boys and the men they can become, and she believes in us, as parents, to raise themâ ( New York Times Book Review). Peggy Orensteinâs Girls & Sex broke ground, shattered taboos, and launched conversations about young womenâs right to pleasure and agency in sexual encounters. It also had an unexpected effect on its author: Orenstein realized that talking about girls is only half the conversation. Boys are subject to the same cultural forces as girlsâsteeped in the same distorted media images and binary stereotypes of female sexiness and toxic masculinityâwhich equally affect how they navigate sexual and emotional relationships. In Boys & Sex, Peggy Orenstein dives back into the lives of young people to once again give voice to the unspoken, revealing how young men understand and negotiate the new rules of physical and emotional intimacy. Drawing on comprehensive interviews with young men, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, Boys & Sex dissects so-called locker room talk; how the word âhilariousâ robs boys of empathy; pornography as the new sex education; boysâ understanding of hookup culture and consent; and their experience as both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. By surfacing young menâs experience in all its complexity, Orenstein is able to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of young male sexuality in todayâs world. The result is a provocative and paradigm-shifting work that offers a much-needed vision of how boys can truly move forward as better men.
