Harvey Mansfield's One Friend?

The very reason that men are vilified and maligned is due to their refusal to defend themselves. Personally, as strange as it may sound, I have encountered numerous men who regard the refutation of fictitious charges of oppression, rape, and theft as being beneath them and unmanly. I have no notion as to now such an absurd disposition came about. Honor and justice demand that if someone lies about you, you must make the truth known. Defying conformity and asserting oneself are the manliest of traits. Government, via affirmative action, divorce and child custody proceedings, along with the biases endemic to sexual harassment law, has officially preferenced one sex over the other. We live in a time of the New Chivalry in which men are expected to smile before being thrown into the abyss. America would be better served if men cautiously, assertively, and verbally defended themselves. For those who lack the proper arguments, studying Professor Mansfield’s book ( Manliness) is highly recommended....The Last Days of Manliness, Bernard Chapin

Poor Harvey Mansfield. The recommender of his book is Bernard Chapin, who's Escape from Gangsta Island (2006) has got the educational/political complex all upset. See, Bernard Chapin was a school psychologist at an institution that was taken over by a principal devoted to the notion that the inmates should run the asylum. In educational circles, this is called "child centeredness" (primary and secondary level) and "student centeredness" (colleges and universities). In this thesis, the teacher is a co-learner, not an expert nor a leader nor an authority. Students of marketing will recognize similarities to the "customer knows best" thesis. Of course, in this case, the buyer in the delicatessan isn't choosing among cuts of meat but among what he or she thinks is worth being educated about. The thesis, and the principal, were both protected by a bureaucracy more concerned about imposing theory and protecting its own than about results. They combined to destroy Chapin's school, yielding graduates incapable of doing much of anything besides playing video games and partying. They also destroyed his career. Why? Because he dared to disagree with them in public...

As such, Harvey Mansfield may regret this interesting and supportive review of his book. But at least he knows he has a friend, somewhere....

LF