An important lesson about the gender debate can be drawn from simple algebra. Adding 2 and something else equals 4. Consider the plurality of views concerning fatherhood. Paternalism today implies merely the patronizing treatment of a supposed inferior.
Fathers are problems or at least cause problems.
Future fathers are now learning to fear themselves. Many young men will sooner or later encounter young women who view them as proto-harassers or rapists or batterers. Although Sommers ultimately lacks the one thing needful for making sense of men and women, she successfully displays the difficulties boys, men, and future fathers face. The views that degrade fathers exist for many reasons. Given that domestic abuse ranks as the number one health risk for women ages fifteen to forty-four, one cannot escape the conclusion that contemporary fathers, and men in general, fail to treat women well.