Building Boys

Offers parents tips and tools to help boys move beyond persistent gender stereotypes

We want to raise well-rounded human beings-we're just not quite sure how best to do it. Confounded by rapidly changing gender norms, today's parents are attempting to raise kind, compassionate, emotionally sensitive children in a society that simultaneously rewards stereotypical masculinity and is increasingly hostile to boys.

In Building Boys, Jennifer L. W. Fink--an in-the-trenches #boymom who intimately understands male development and the challenges currently facing boys and their families--offers ten rules that parents can use to guide their parenting choices throughout their sons' lives. These rules range from emphasizing emotional intelligence to letting your son struggle and ultimately accepting him as he is. Fink explains both the science and research behind each rule as well as stories and anecdotes from families, including her own. And because these rules are broad, they are as applicable to boys with ADHD, autism, and learning challenges are they are to neurotypical boys.

Current culture harms our boys as well as our girls--and they need (and deserve) as much support as we can give. Teaching boys to respect others will help them move beyond gender stereotypes and create a world where everyone--boys and girls alike--feel safe, loved, and emotionally secure.