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Former President Barack Obama called out progressives on Wednesday for their “mistake” of constantly talking about what boys are doing wrong, rather than talking about what they are doing right.
Appearing as a guest on the “IMO” podcast, which is co-hosted by his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and her brother Craig Robinson, the former president argued that the “mistake” occurred because progressives were hyper-focused on ensuring there is a “level playing field” for girls, which has led to boys’ flaws being put under a microscope.
“I will say, as quote-unquote progressives, Democrats, progressive parents, enlightened ones, we’ve made that mistake sometimes in terms of our rhetoric, where it’s like we’re constantly talking about it, you know, what’s going on with the boys instead of what’s right with them,” he stated.
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Obama continued, explaining his reasoning for why many progressives have overlooked what boys have been doing right, and instead have focused on what they’ve been doing wrong.
“We rightly have tried to invest in girls to make sure that there’s a level playing field, and they’re not barred from opportunities. But we haven’t been as willing, I think, to be intentional about investing in the boys. And that’s been a mistake. And I think people are starting to recognize that,” he asserted.
Earlier in the podcast, the former president noted that he finds it “promising” that young men are beginning to realize that there are many different ways of being a “good, strong, successful, happy man.” However, he expressed criticism of the younger generation for leaving behind some of the good aspects of what the “old models” of manhood contained.
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Speaking directly to his brother-in-law, the former president told Robinson, “I think that what we need to do in order to take advantage of that is to, as a society, as communities, recognize this kind of transition from the old models that you and I, Craig, grew up on. Just like you said, you took a lot of good stuff from your dad, but then there were some modifications that just had to be made, either because of blind spots, limits, lack of resources, what have you.”
Continuing his point, Obama used an anecdote from what he’d witnessed with some of his daughters’ male friends to explain how some of the old-fashioned qualities of being a man, such as chivalry, have been lost on the younger generation of men.
“Talking to Malia and Sasha, sometimes they go out with their friends and, you know, they’re in a group and the guy’s got crocodile arms, you know? It’s like not picking up the check. And it’s like, okay, you don’t have to pick it up all the time, but if you’re never picking it up, that’s a problem,” he explained. “That says something about you, if you’re not opening a door or pulling out a chair, because that’s just common courtesy. That’s just being kind, right?”
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Obama added that he’s “rooting” for the parents of boys, noting that as a father of daughters, he and his wife are counting on them to raise “good guys” — not just in terms of marriage, but in all aspects of life.
“What we’re learning, I think, is that when we don’t think about boys and just assume they’re going to be okay because they’ve been running the world and, you know, they’ve got all the advantages relative to girls — and all of which has historically been true in all kinds of ways. But precisely because of that, if you’re not thinking about what’s happening to boys and how are they being raised, then that can actually hurt women,” he argued.
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