Every Man: Why Violence Against Women is a Men’s Issue, and How You Can Make a Difference

by Dr Jackson Katz, Jackson Katz

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2025

Reviews

[Mia Asplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible read. i think he approaches gender based violence in a new & nuanced way, not one of accusation but rather a call to action. please if you are a man (or woman) read this book. nothing changes if we keep ignoring the problem, this book urges individuals to be part of the solution with practical examples & i think it’s a fab place to start if you want to educate yourself & love thy neighbour :))

[Sinan Pertev · Rating 5 out of 5]

If youre a man, JUST BUY IT!
A book for men, about men, by a man. If youve clicked through enough webpages to get to this point, then let me assure you that this book is for you. I would completely feel safe in saying that if youre a man, like me, this is the perfect place to start on reading.

Feminism is something that i try my best in, however its really difficult to focus on a social issue without being able to read more about the subject. Theres alot of academic stuff on feminism. Social science literature is apersonal and often too theoretical. And at the least, for me, its too dense to actually read through and engage with. Feminist books that are not academic are usually either told by, or for women, (which is perfectly acceptable because they grapple with the sharp end of the patriarchal blade); which just means that men wont be able to relate or sympathise with it intuitively.

This book helped me better understand my own stance on how i should be interracting with this issue as I often felt like feminism shouldnt be something i discuss because "its not my place to". The evocative language and the years of experience that the author brings to the pages definetly did help reinvigorate my stance, however do not expect to find something completely revolutionising in this book. Even as the author states, this book builds on the vast amount of feminist literature and is intended as a hands-on guide. I still felt as though the language was very emotional and it kept me reading on (i finished it in 2 days), and the amount of detail that the author writes with helped clarify some of my own thoughts.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book tells you almost everything you need to know about the experience of reading (or indeed, for the pedants, listening to) it.

Firstly, it's an incredibly worthwhile endeavour in terms of teaching men, many of whom feel bewildered with what they can, can't should or shouldn't do to help fight the pandemic of sexist horror in the modern world, some helpful ways to join the fight without taking over in a paternalistic, white-knight way.

And secondly, it's written by an expert in the field who neverthless contrives to spell things out like a high school student with a term paper.

There's lots of "As you'll know if you've listened to my TedX talk" here, and a fair amount of "In this chapter, I intend to show...", without which the text would have been significantly less clunky and more effective.

That stylistic point aside though, Katz does have worthwhile things to say, and he's immersed in modern misogyny-research. He makes important points about stemming the pipeline of sexist and misogynistic young men through everything from red pill content to explicitly misogynistic porn.

He reframes the notion of a teachable masculinity, shifting the focus from aggression and dominance to moral leadership, calling out male sexism, misogyny and sexual violence against women and girls, to establish a baseline societal understanding that those behaviours will not in any sense be tolerated even by male peer groups, eventually evolving out the misogyny in the social power dynamic.

As you read that, do you begin to get a sense of what the biggest problem with the book might be?

Let's be clear - it's not a problem of the author's making, or the book's premise.

It's that, from January 2026, it reads like instructions for an epic picnic given to the few straggling survivors of a nuclear holocaust.

Disturbingly, the book was published in 2025, when Trump had begun his second term. But already, the administration has delivered such crushing body blows to the notions of civility and partnership, let alone the notions of equality between the sexes or reducing misogyny in our social discourse that the book sounds like it comes from the age of some of the nicer dinosaurs.

In the space of a year, all the baselines we had - with which, let's be clear, misogyny and male violence against women and girls WERE STILL RAMPANT - have been bombed back to the dawn of time, so the ideas in the book, while undoubtedly valid, feel already entirely disconnected from the age in which we now live.

The result, in terms of its effect on the reader, is to provoke a pang of longing for an age which was still rampant with misogyny and gender-based violence, but where making the case that THAT WAS BAD, and had probably better be tackled, did not for instance run the risk of getting you labelled a domestic terrorist and getting shot in the face by gangs of armed thugs.

From where and when it was written, Every Man was a solid, progressive manifesto for change, with some decently detailed steps to deliver a better social balance and ultimately, a better world.

From where we now live, it reads like a 19th century treatise on moral philsophy - cute, insightful, but in no sense applicable to the here and now.

Just one year...

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be essential reading for - as the title says - every man. The gist is that violence against women is a men's issue and thus men have a responsibility in preventing it - by speaking up when they witness misogynous actions instead of staying silent, organising events against men's violence against women or taking any of the other 19 steps outlined in the last chapter.
By calling men into the struggle for gender equality (instead of calling them out) and by providing them with an aspirational idea of masculinity (men can prevent gender-based violence and thereby do good for the world), Katz hopes to kickstart a men-assisted change of norms that would make misogyny unacceptable. A particular emphasis is made on men in leadership positions whose duty it is to drive changes in norms surrounding misogyny from the top and taking a public stance on it.
Spread the word about the book and gift it to your (male) friends. The more men get their hands on it, the more successful we will be in ending misogynous violence once and for all.
Thank you to Jackson Katz for all your work and for writing this book, you are a real hero and inspiration!

[Noe Wplr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will recommend this book to any man I know. It presents such an important jumping-off point for (young) men who feel confused, left behind, or even attacked by the current discussions on men’s violence against women.

I have read many, many books on this topic, but this one stood out to me. Not because it discusses particularly new ideas or concepts, but because it is written by a man, for men. Dr. Katz’s love and empathy for young men can be felt through his writing. With this book, he invites men into the conversation and, through concrete action points, shows them how to be better friends, partners, brothers, sons, allies, and men—all while acknowledging the difficulties (young) men in male peer groups may face in speaking out. He speaks from his experience as a man and the challenges he faced when he first started working in this field, and continues to face now.

A true love letter to men and their potential to actively be part of the solution, without diminishing the necessary accountability men must take.

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, the target audience is men, any and all men, however I like that the author recognizes that mostly women join his workshops when these are voluntary, and I'd like to add that probably this book will be read by much more women than men. That's okay, as long as men read it too.
I learned some things, some strategies for inviting men to care for feminist causes, some stats, however despite the author's stated effort to keep this short it feels very repetitive.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dissertation Research Reading.

Powerful book, excellently written and very accessible. Solid references and arguments - useful source to anyone seeking to understand the issue of men's violence against women. It has been eye-opening on the passivity of how we discuss and describe men's violence against women.

[Gintare Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read.

[Bella98 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, especially for men to read to learn how to support women