"Raising Cain"...for Sure

Philalethes writes "On NPR's Morning Edition news program 12/17/2002: "Susan Stamberg talks to family psychologist Michael Thompson about nurturing boys so they grow into peaceful men. Thompson is the author of Raising Cain." (Direct link to RealPlayer file.) Not too bad, despite the obligatory snide remark (Stamberg: "What about all that testosterone?"), and the usual implication that what's wrong with boys is that they aren't girls. Comparisons are also made with the "better" boys found in other countries like Britain, France and Japan -- though of course no there is no mention of the [major factor] that differentiates American child-rearing from practically every other culture's: [infant male genital mutilation], aka "circumcision." Every time I see one of the increasing crop of "What's Wrong With Boys?" books, I look in the index for "circumcision." I can't recall ever seeing the subject mentioned -- perhaps because circumcision is the American "solution" to the "boy problem."Philalethes adds, "Freud put his finger on it: What do women want, anyway? First they subject us to vicious, brutal torture directed at the vital core of our infant masculinity, overwhelming pain and terror, then they complain because we're "not in touch with [our] feelings" and "confuse sex with violence." Drop me a line when they figure it out, okay?"

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