My son was born on Father's Day and this book was the gift my wife got me (aside from the baby, of course!) I read about half of it and found it excellent, so this is a great reason for me to go back and finish it.

Looking back on what I read, what stood out the most was the challenge of raising a child in a non patriarchal household within a patriarchal society. The anecdote about the feminist family whose son was unconcerned with gender roles untils a single instance of getting dirty looks from some older boys in the neighborhood completely altered his behavior really exemplifies what an uphill battle it is. It's extremely important to me that my son not feel restrained by gender expectations, and especially that he not find himself needing to commit the psychic violence that hooks correctly identifies as being the root of patriarchal reinforcement.

He's five months old now and I've had grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and strangers all ask if he has a girlfriend yet. He doesn't even know what girls and boys are but they are building these expectations that he will see women as sexual partners and all the baggage around that. It makes me sick.

I feel fortunate that I live in a diverse and progressive neighborhood that will have less pressure than the situations discussed in TWTC at different places and earlier times. However, I'm still on guard basically all the time to be sure no one teaches him to be "a real man".