Raising Boys (Part 2)

This is the second of two programs exploring the special challenges of raising boys into becoming young men who DON’T turn to violence and crime and sexual domination. Young boys and sex will be the focus of this program. Among the statistics that we heard in the first program are these sex-related crimes – the super huge majority committed by men, young men or boys – 87% of stalkers are male, 86% of domestic violence assaults resulting in physical injury are done by males, 99% of rapes are committed by males. Some high profile rapes and shootings have involved a certain misogyny like the apparently misogynistic mass shooting in 2014 in Santa Barbara by a young man who seemed to be settling the score with young women who wouldn't go out with him. These cases have many of us wondering. Not wondering so much about where those messages are coming from. Everybody seems to know that although we debate which is more at fault, the misogynistic messages and perpetration of sexual myths come from other adults, sometimes in the same household as young boys, and they come from the media – books, magazines, movies, the internet, advertising, television. In a nation of freedom of speech and low government regulation, most seem to accept that doing anything about the media end of the equation seems to be a lost cause. A perhaps debatable conclusion which we’ve covered in other Peace Talks Radio programs on video game violence for example. But we also wonder how to counter or balance the impact of the many messages of sexual objectification and gender inequality that are aimed at our boys. And that’s where we’ll spend a good bit of our time with our guests today on Peace Talks Radio. Guests include: Dr. Victor Lacerva, co-founder of New Mexico Men’s Wellness and author of the book Masculine Wisdom ; Dr. Joseph Marshall, a former educator in San Francisco who left teaching behind to study and try to end youth violence. Also neuroscientist Dr. Lise Eliot from the Chicago Medical school and the author of a book Pink Brain Blue Brain. Suzanne Kryder hosts with Paul Ingles.