Why it’s not surprising that young men are abandoning college

School reading lists were suddenly missing books about heroes, chivalry, knights and other such symbols of boyhood fantasy, while girls were embracing female heroes (we don’t say “heroine” anymore) and fantasizing about becoming Supreme Court justices and fighter pilots. “Girl power,” first introduced in 1991 by punk band Bikini Kill, had become a household phrase by the time Mary Pipher’s “Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls” became a bestseller. Pipher, a psychologist, highlighted the challenges modern girls and teens faced with both a “lookist,” girl-destroying culture and culture shot through with sexual violence, resulting in eating disorders and suicide attempts.