Guy Garcia

"The Decline of Men" isn't what you expect. When I first read the summary I envisioned some sort of counter-feminist rebuttal of women's rights, but what I found was an interesting venture into the plight of the modern day man. The author (Guy Garcia) dives headfirst into understanding the implications of modern society on the male gender and examines how work toward gender equality has impacted men. Written with a focus on modern society and pop-culture The Decline of Men manages to inform while entertaining.

Garcia weaves together a variety of topics from men's health to action figures in order to show how men are perceived in today's society. He doesn't make excuses for men, but instead shows how various elements of progress for women have displaced men or created confusion regarding their place in society. He looks at where men are losing traction (such as jobs and education) and he looks into areas where men have avoided taking care of themselves (such as preventative health). The cross-section of information that Garcia references is worth picking up the book in and of itself, his explosion of facts provides plenty of resources for additional research.

Instead of throwing together a droll recollection of history and explanation of gender, Garcia manages to present a powerfully entertaining glimpse of the male gender. I found it reminiscent of the stylistic prose found in "Freakonomics". He also works to explain where females are in relationship to males and where both genders are headed. I didn't find "The Decline of Men" to harp on any one particular perspective but in the same vein it can be a little hard on men. The facts concerning men can be somewhat difficult to accept as Garcia shows that the male position at the top of the foodchain is rapidly dissolving. He attempts to show the weaknesses in the male position and how those weaknesses should be addressed in order to prevent a disruption in establishing equality in gender relationships.

If you are interested in understanding how gender affects our position in modern society, "The Decline of Men" of men provides an excellent insight. While it is important to understand gender in a traditional sense, Garcia also enables the reader to think critically about how gender will shape society in the future. He allows us to understand that we must be constantly aware of how gender alters our communications and shapes our perceptions. "The Decline of Men" is really a warning about society overall. We can't ignore the needs of one group just because they are doing okay at that particular moment, Garcia points out that all of our actions need to be holistic and comprehensive to prevent marginalization of a previously dominant group.… (meer)

Review by BookLove Staff Member Jason Lush

In his study of the American male Guy Garcia exposes the ugly truth that all men want to hide but desperately need shown, our weakness in today’s age of networking and social strong arming. The author adequately displays how the feminist movement empowered women but in essence castrated an entire nation of men.

We live in an age where all the strengths that helped us make it out of the caves has made us all but useless in the world we created. Guy Garcia points to a lot of statistics making the work informative but a little dry, then blind sides you with two chapters about Mattel’s Ken and Superman, referring to them as both real men and symbols of what we are and what we used to be, respectively a useless metrosexual and an idealized figure of manhood. The fact that he spoke of both characters as if they were true flesh and blood men seemed a little silly and out of place in this particular work.

In the end we see that our Pop Icons are mirrors of what we think a “Man” should be but can never live up to ourselves. In short the implication is that instead of living up to our traditional ideas of manhood we should just redefine what it is to be a man.

Seems a bit lazy to me, but hell what ever makes you sleep better at night.… (meer)