By: Michael Beiter

#mentoo

I'm all for equality, but the focus on everyone BUT men has caused problems similar to those we solved with the civil and women's rights movements.

Richard Reeves documents all of it in his new book, 'Of Boys and Men.' I had to wait over a month to get this from the library! Five other people were qued up before me - so the subject matter is popular.

Here are six things Reeves addresses, along with the most alarming statistic to me, as a fitness and nutrition coach.

1.) Things are worse than people think for our boys and men.

2. ) Those struggling most are at the sharp ends of other inequalities like class and race.

3.) The problems are treated as individual issues in each man but are actually deeply structural and systemic.

4.) Most social policy interventions don't help boys and men.

5.) The politicization of sex and gender has caused a stalemate, and neither side is budging.

6.) Proposed policy solutions include making education more male-friendly, helping men move into health, education, administration, and literacy or HEAL jobs, and bolstering fatherhood as an independent social institution.

So there's the six, and here's the stat:

"As the muscular demands of work decline, men are becoming physically weaker; one study of grip strength, a good indicator of overall strength, shows a sharp decline among men. Meanwhile, women are getting physically stronger. In 1985, the average man in his early 30s could squeeze your hand with about 30 pounds more force than a similarly aged woman. Today, their grip strength is about the same."

I love you ladies, but this book reminds us not to forget about the fellas.