Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity

Boys & Sex was published in January 2020, on the eve of the global COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, which took off globally in October 2017 after the exposure of Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct. Following the lead of activist Tarana Burke, who coined the phrase “me too” to express sympathy and solidarity among sexual assault survivors in 2006, Actor Alyssa Milano posted on Twitter asking women to use #MeToo when sharing their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment in order to highlight the magnitude of the issue. Orenstein explains that the #MeToo movement provided much of the foundational context for Boys & Sex. For many, the #MeToo movement and its related stories gave rise to the belief that contemporary expressions of masculinity under patriarchy is toxic and traumatizing to women all over the world. Furthermore, male views on sexuality remain stagnant, patriarchal and hegemonic. While feminism has visibly empowered many women, its positive effects on male thinking remain difficult to observe, particularly in traditional male spaces dominated by heterosexual "bro culture," where conversations about women are almost exclusively characterized by sexual objectification. In response, Orenstein aims to elucidate the contemporary male conceptions of sexuality that lead to instances of sexual assault and harassment in order to better understand how these conceptions might be influenced to prevent future harm.