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The Fragile Male: The Decline of a Redundant Species
Examines the male psyche and its evolution, and compares the behavior of men to that of males of other species
234 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2015
I rate this 3 stars in term of some biological information incurred to me while reading this book. It is also interesting to hear the interpretation of male and female behaviours through the lens of a MALE researcher. However, perhaps because this book was written quite a long time ago, the knowledge was a bit out-of-date. The author's points of view were also quite extreme. It was harsh to digest this book, I suppose, but still- a good material to refer to for better understanding of human instincts.
Just do not trust all.
Just do not trust all.
November 14, 2025
I found the title ‘The Fragile Male’ somewhat misleading. I approached the book expecting a sociological analysis of today’s fragile male ego. I was interested in the views of a male writer, given that the majority of literature on this subject is available from feminist authors.
Greenstein’s book does tackle male fragility, but it does so primarily through a biological lens. The roots of gender differences, it argues, are predominantly hormonal. However, as biological differences are ignored and quashed by the increasingly successful reversal of traditional gender roles, particularly in Western societies, this frustrates the human male’s innate domineering instinct. In turn, this fosters male behaviours that continue to be violent and oppressive towards women.
Nothing especially new here. Except that Greenstein unapologetically maintains his biological argument throughout, as opposed to, or at least complementary to, the more readily available sociological one - largely in feminist writing, which places the blame for women’s oppression on the calculated, historical imposition of the patriarchy. Or, more accurately, Greenstein seems to explain the patriarchy mostly in biological terms.
Greenstein locates the origin of gender role differences in the biological action of hormones, which shape sex functions and behaviours well before birth. This was fascinating to read, especially as counter to some of the sociological, radical feminist positions on the trans-debate. As such, this section required careful unpacking, while it also came peppered with apparent generalisations and unfortunate wording that could be easily misunderstood as sexist.
Despite his point - that men and women are engineered to live and behave according to innate genetic traits - I do not consider Greenstein as sexist. Due to these inevitable traits, Greenstein says, men behave like men and always will. This does not equate, however, to the misogynistic “boys will be boys” mantra of male entitlement. The author does go on to explain his point more clearly and ultimately concludes in firmly anti-sexist terms, arguing that once men and women acknowledge their biological differences, they can use this awareness to iron-out gender conflict and prevent male violence. There is an attempt here to place most of the responsibility for such action on men.
To clarify, Greenstein suggests that improvements in the condition of women—mostly in Western societies—which have opened access to better jobs, status, and representation, may appear to work in women’s favour on the surface. However, he contends that these gains continue to exacerbate men’s biologically-determined domineering instinct, ultimately to the ongoing detriment of women. Basically, women-lib has back-fired and without educating men and women to our biological differences, there will never be real women-lib.
Greenstein then places a large part of the solution with gender education, which must start as early as possible in childhood, teaching both teachers and pupils about the biological forces that shape sex and gender: why these forces are beyond our control while they originate in-foetus, and why being aware of these facts can help man “straighten out his attitude and behaviour towards women”.
In conclusion, this book is unusual, as it uses a biological starting point to link sex and gender, while much of the current feminist discourse at the centre of the trans-debate, for example, underlines differences between biological sex on the one side, and gender as a social construct on the other.
It must be noted that this book was published in 1993 and it would help to access more recent research while reading it.
Greenstein’s book does tackle male fragility, but it does so primarily through a biological lens. The roots of gender differences, it argues, are predominantly hormonal. However, as biological differences are ignored and quashed by the increasingly successful reversal of traditional gender roles, particularly in Western societies, this frustrates the human male’s innate domineering instinct. In turn, this fosters male behaviours that continue to be violent and oppressive towards women.
Nothing especially new here. Except that Greenstein unapologetically maintains his biological argument throughout, as opposed to, or at least complementary to, the more readily available sociological one - largely in feminist writing, which places the blame for women’s oppression on the calculated, historical imposition of the patriarchy. Or, more accurately, Greenstein seems to explain the patriarchy mostly in biological terms.
Greenstein locates the origin of gender role differences in the biological action of hormones, which shape sex functions and behaviours well before birth. This was fascinating to read, especially as counter to some of the sociological, radical feminist positions on the trans-debate. As such, this section required careful unpacking, while it also came peppered with apparent generalisations and unfortunate wording that could be easily misunderstood as sexist.
Despite his point - that men and women are engineered to live and behave according to innate genetic traits - I do not consider Greenstein as sexist. Due to these inevitable traits, Greenstein says, men behave like men and always will. This does not equate, however, to the misogynistic “boys will be boys” mantra of male entitlement. The author does go on to explain his point more clearly and ultimately concludes in firmly anti-sexist terms, arguing that once men and women acknowledge their biological differences, they can use this awareness to iron-out gender conflict and prevent male violence. There is an attempt here to place most of the responsibility for such action on men.
To clarify, Greenstein suggests that improvements in the condition of women—mostly in Western societies—which have opened access to better jobs, status, and representation, may appear to work in women’s favour on the surface. However, he contends that these gains continue to exacerbate men’s biologically-determined domineering instinct, ultimately to the ongoing detriment of women. Basically, women-lib has back-fired and without educating men and women to our biological differences, there will never be real women-lib.
Greenstein then places a large part of the solution with gender education, which must start as early as possible in childhood, teaching both teachers and pupils about the biological forces that shape sex and gender: why these forces are beyond our control while they originate in-foetus, and why being aware of these facts can help man “straighten out his attitude and behaviour towards women”.
In conclusion, this book is unusual, as it uses a biological starting point to link sex and gender, while much of the current feminist discourse at the centre of the trans-debate, for example, underlines differences between biological sex on the one side, and gender as a social construct on the other.
It must be noted that this book was published in 1993 and it would help to access more recent research while reading it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews