Raising our boys into men

A century ago, most families lived on farms. Boys, who started chores almost as soon as they could walk, worked the harvest right through their teen years and woke up one morning as men.

Their future was pretty clear-cut. They knew they needed to get a job, get a wife, have children to take care of them in old age and find some way to sustain themselves.

Then families made the mass exodus from farm to suburb. The plow was replaced by a station wagon. Dads drove to work. Moms stayed home and raised the kids and hosted Tupperware parties. High schools brought about a new development in growing up: the adolescent. Still, once women and men hit their 20s, they grew up, married and had children.

With the rise of the information age, the whole system broke open. Women, who were now getting more and more education, found themselves perfectly qualified for jobs in the creative industries. They turned into smart, sassy 20-somethings with disposable income, not particularly interested in marriage or children, at least not yet.

It turned out women were more suited to this mind-based, multi-tasking society, and they began doing mental and educational laps around men. Suddenly you had an entire generation of post-adolescent males who, finding themselves not really needed or wanted, shrugged at their buddies and said, “Let’s go watch 'Star Wars' again.”

All of this is described in a fascinating book published earlier this year by Kay Hymowitz titled, “Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys.” Hymowitz argues that this new development has led to the “man-child” who bums around with his friends and still thinks the "Star Wars" saga is the hottest ticket in town.

As the mother of four young boys, I read a book like this with just the teensiest bit of apprehension. It keeps me either hunting Trulia.com for hobby farms, where my boys can get a proper “man’s” upbringing, and hyperventilating behind the Lego box. Just short of putting a down payment on a milk cow, I remember that I have the antidote for this post-adolescent plague. It’s called the gospel.

In fact, as I read Hymowitz’s book, my prevailing thought was, “The church solves all of these problems, if we’re tough enough to stand by what we’re told.”