Ruth Whippman – författare

'BoyMum is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read as a parent' The Times BoyMum is about boys and young men - how we are raising them, and what it means to be a man-in-the-making in an era when #MeToo has challenged our tolerance for toxic masculinity, yet the pressure on young men to be 'masculine' has never been more intense.It is also a mother's perspective. Ruth Whippman is the proud/overwhelmed, feminist mother of three boys and her family life can be a daily confrontation with the triumph of nature over nurture. All too aware that her parenting today will shape the men her sons become tomorrow, she explores the expectations placed on boys - must boys be boys?; the messages we send girls but not boys (but they really need to hear too); boys in the classroom and boys online; incels; entitlement, sexual harassment and "cancel culture" and what radicalizes young men.Blending memoir with cultural analysis, and approaching her subject with wit, honesty and open-mindedness, this is a sympathetic investigation into where we are going wrong with raising boys, and how trying to change those patterns must be one of society's most urgent cultural projects.Praise for Ruth Whippman and The Pursuit of Happiness- "A whip-sharp British Bill Bryson" The Sunday Times- "Ruth Whippman is whip-smart, her writing nothing short of genius" Huffington Post- The Pursuit of Happiness was a New York Post Best Book of 2016, a New York Times Editors' Choice and Paperback Row pick, one of Newsweek's 'Nine Books to Change the Way You Think in 2016', a Sunday Times top summer read and a Daily Mail 'Must Read'.- Ruth Whippman manages the trick of being funny about what is, deep down, a serious problem: the American quest for happiness isn't working" Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks- "I LOVED this book. I found it SO WELL WRITTEN, so witty and funny and reading it I was often envious of Ruth Whippman's facility with language. It was a hugely engaging read, accessible and so relevant... I've been quite evangelical about it." Marian Keyes, best-selling author of Grown Ups

'BoyMum is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read as a parent' The Times"Utterly fascinating for anyone raising sons' Gaby HinsliffBoyMum is about what it means to grow up male in an era when #MeToo has zeroed our tolerance for toxic masculinity, yet the pressure on young men to be 'masculine' has never been more intense.It is also a mother's story. As a feminist mum of three sons, Ruth Whippman is all too aware that her parenting today will shape the men her sons become tomorrow, but daily life can often feel like the triumph of nature over nurture. Blending memoir, reporting and cultural analysis, she investigates the impossibly contradictory pressures young men now face, and the blind spots in male socialization that are leaving boys lonely and adrift. But as she digs into mental health, screens, school, sex, friendship, porn, 'cancel culture' and the manosphere, she finds her simple certainties about male privilege seriously challenged.Empathetic, witty and curious, BoyMum asks how we can give boys a healthier, more expansive story about their own lives.'A brilliant, powerful and very timely take. Everyone raising boys should read this, and all men too' Sam Delaney, author of Sort Your Head Out'Nuanced, compassionate and brave, this brilliant book explodes the dogmatic, stereotypical tropes that restrict and smother boys' Laura Bates'A fabulous and much-needed book. Ruth Whippman combines personal with critical cultural commentary so effectively and beautifully. As we raise children in today's complex age to be good citizens, this is a hugely important conversation' Pragya Agarwal, author of Sway and M(otherhood)'Provocative and probing . . . Ruth Whippman . . . discovers loneliness and failed good intentions, but also a longing for connection, and moments of grace. Whippman shows that we ought to think harder about who we want our boys to become' Patricia Duckerman, author of Why French Children Don't Throw Food'Ruth Whippman is a rare talent with an even rarer set of skills, deftly combining forensic academic research, dazzling wit and disarmingly punchy prose that leaps from the page and leaves you wondering how something so clever and so urgent can also be so much fun to read' Charlotte Philby, author of Edith and Kim'Beautifully conveys the internal battle many intelligent feminist mothers [find] themselves having when raising boys' Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, Guardian