Warren Farrell

Warren Thomas Farrell (born June 26, 1943) is an American author, educator, and activist who has written about gender, particularly men's issues. Initially active in the second wave feminist movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, Farrell was a board member of the National Organization for Women in New York City and authored The Liberated Man (1974), which explored how traditional gender roles constrained both men and women. He obtained his doctorate in political science on the topic in 1974. His role-reversal workshops in the 1970s and early 1980s brought him mainstream attention. Over time, he grew critical of feminism and shifted his focus toward highlighting the disadvantages and challenges faced by men.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Farrell established himself as a leading voice in the emerging men's movement. His books Why Men Are the Way They Are (1986) and The Myth of Male Power (1993) argued that men are systematically disadvantaged in areas such as family law, education, health, and cultural representation. Farrell contended that men, often seen as "success objects," bore hidden costs of traditional masculinity, from hazardous work to military conscription, while facing rising cultural hostility. These writings were widely reviewed and translated.

Farrell's later books and talks broadened into broader relationship advice and advocacy on men's issues. Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say (1999) and Father and Child Reunion (2001) addressed communication and parenting, with Farrell calling for greater recognition of fathers as caregivers. His subsequent books, including Why Men Earn More (2005) and Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men? (2008, with James P. Sterba), continued to argue that pay disparities and gender inequalities were rooted more in life choices and systemic biases against men than in widespread discrimination against women. In The Boy Crisis (2018, with John Gray), he emphasized the effects of father absence on boys' health, education, and well-