Boys & Sex : Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Now in paperbackPeggy Orenstein, author of the groundbreakingNew York TimesbestsellerGirls Sex,turns her focus to the sexual lives of young men. Eye-opening. Every few pages, the boy world cracks open a little bit. Even in the most anxiety-provoking moments ofBoys Sex, its clear that Orenstein believes in the goodness of boys and the men they can become, and she believes in us, as parents, to raise them (New York Times Book Review).

Peggy Orensteins Girls Sexbroke ground, shattered taboos, and launched conversations about young womens 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 girlssteeped in the same distorted media images and binary stereotypes of female sexiness and toxic masculinitywhich equally affect how they navigate sexual and emotional relationships. InBoys 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 hilarious robs boys of empathy; pornography as the new sex education; boys understanding of hookup culture and consent; and their experience as both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. By surfacing young mens experience in all its complexity, Orenstein is able to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of young male sexuality in todays 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.