Anti-Male Bias and Abuse of Boys as a Fad
The Girl Power Generation and Anti-Boy Attitudes
A Eulogy to Boy’s Hair and their Individuality

The Girl Power Generation and Anti-Boy Attitudes
Editorial Printed in The Eagle Tribune in July 2001 in Haverhill, Massachusetts

By Laurie A. Couture, M.Ed, LMHC © 2001

In the summer of 2001, I walked into a local family restaurant and discovered yet another sticker vending machine that is designed to attract the attention of children. For 50 cents, a girl can purchase one of three stickers that feature parodied commercial logos with slogans that are degrading to boys. Some of the stickers available to girls include, "Boys R’ Toys" (in the form of the "Toys R’ Us" logo) and "I Make Boys Cry" (in the form of the Tommy Hilfiger logo). If a girl’s two quarters do not win her one of the logo stickers, she may still end up with a "Boys Are Great, Every Girl Should Own One" , or a "Lucky To Be A Girl" sticker. Although the machine holds three other slots for stickers, there are not any stickers for boys that equally read "Lucky To Be A Boy" or offer girl-bashing in the form of pop-culture logos.

     In itself this may not seem like a serious issue. However, it is unlikely that zealots of political correctness would allow for stickers in the community that read, "Girls Are Great, Every Boy Should Own One". Such slogans would be seen as sexist, degrading and potentially dangerous. These ubiquitous sticker machines, by themselves quite unobtrusive, are a symbol of a growing tendency in our society to degrade and devalue boys as a way to inflate the self concepts of girls.

     Despite the cry for "gender equality" in our society, girls are given permission to promote "girl power" at the expense of boys. An equal movement for "boy power" is non-existent, a concept that would consequently be met with suspicion and criticism if it did exist. In every mall, clothing and jewelry store that targets girls, "girl power" and anti-boy t-shirts and accessories can be found ("Girls Rule, Boys Drool") As a social worker, I work regularly with young people. When I recently challenged a 17-year old girl that her "Boys R’ Toys" logo t-shirt was sexist, she laughed that it "would only be sexist if it said ‘Girls R’ Toys’".

     This is a difficult time to be a boy in our society. We have standards for "gender equality" that do not apply to both sexes. We are hard on boys and view them, not the way they are treated, as the epitome of our social problems. What does this do to the self concepts of boys? It is vital that all children be given opportunities for developing a positive self concept. However, this should not be done at the expense of another person, or group of people. Helping children to develop competencies, skills, talents and dreams is the way to foster true self esteem, not promoting contention between two equally valuable sexes.

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