The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys

“This book simply must be read . . . . Highly, highly recommended.”  (Mens News Daily, 4 January 2013)

“The Second Sexismis well researched, with voluminous references. As such, it serves the useful function of raising consciousness about an important social issue. Benatar’s research makes a strong case for an in-depth examination of the injustices and discriminations that men suffer in this and other societies in the 21st century.”  (PsycINFO/PsycCRITIQUES, 21 November 2012)

“The Second Sexism is a strong and early step on the way to the awareness, amelioration, and treatment of a widespread and unaddressed problem that affects a not insignificant portion of the human population.”  (New Male Studies Review 3, Jonathan Badiali's, 26 September 2012)

“Benatar’s analysis brings much needed clarity to contemporary debates in gender studies, whose discourse runs the risk of becoming stagnant and dogmatic against a constantly changing social backdrop. Benatar does well to remind us that it is not only females who are constrained and disadvantaged by the roles that they have been socially encouraged to take up.”  (New Male Studies Review 2, J.P. Messina's, 26 September 2012)

“And now, thanks to Professor Benatar, we have an incisive, comprehensive discussion of the phenomenon that feminism has unwittingly brought to the forefront . . . The writing is jargon-free. As a philosopher, Professor Benatar is attentive to conceptual nuance and clear, precise usage.”  (New Male Studies Review 1, Miles Groth's, 26 September 2012)

“This is a very well-argued book that presents an unorthodox thesis and defends it ably.  It would be a useful text in both undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy and gender studies, where it is certain to arouse a lot of discussion, much of it excited.  Since it is very clearly written, and would be interesting and accessible also to the educated layperson.  Most importantly, however, it is likely to change our understanding of gender relations.”  (Metapsychology, 21 August 2012)

With clarity and cogency, The Second Sexism presents the first sustained philosophical examination of systematic discrimination against men.  This is not part of a backlash against feminism; it is part of the next crucial step toward the construction of social arrangements that are fairer, more humane, and less restrictive of individual freedom.
-Don Hubin, Ohio State University

This book is as courageous as it is brilliant and as honest as it is thought provoking.  The issue is not whether women have been wronged, but whether the responses to the wrongs against women have often resulted in there being wrongs against men.  In quite surprising ways, David Benatar’s book is a wonderful reminder of the tremendous importance of John Stuart Mill’s distinction between “living truth” and “dead dogma”; for it is not at all a conceptual truth that the dogma of sexual inequality has been replaced by and only by living truth with respect to equality for all.  Benatar is absolutely masterful—nay, majestic—in illustrating that reality.
- Laurence Thomas, Syracuse University

David Benatar once again enters the ethico-political debates of our time with his controversial argument about the neglected side of sexism—wrongful discrimination against men. Justice is never a zero-sum game to Benatar, and his well argued and thoughtful book makes a compelling case for taking seriously men's hidden injuries if we are to genuinely build a better world.
-Daphne Patai, University of Massachusetts