ABSTRACT
When I go to cocktail parties in Australia and tell people I study the education of boys, normally I get stories about my new acquaintances’ own children or mention of a newspaper account they read recently on the subject. At the very least, there will be a look of familiarity on their faces, or sometimes suspicion, until they figure out on which “side” of the issue I am. Conversely, when I go to cocktail parties in the United States and tell people I study the education of boys, there is normally a moment of silence, a cock of one eyebrow, and the inevitable question: “Boys?! What’s the issue there?” This has slowly changed in recent years as boys’ issues gain more public attention in the United States, but there is still a qualitative difference between the two countries. Why should this be?
