Lisa Bloom Explains the Dumbing Down of American Women

Last year I came across one of those books that opens your eyes and changes you forever.

It was written by a woman named Lisa Bloom and called Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World. I read it over the course of three days, laughing often, crying at times, but mostly in a state of shocking realization. I’d never let in just how much I’d been shaped and was continuously being shaped by the media I consume on a daily basis, and how it hasn’t necessarily been having the best effects on me—or my mind. I’d go on to tell you all about it, but I have something even better: Lisa herself!

I had the incredible opportunity to interview Lisa Bloom a few days ago about Think and her equally important new book Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness, and Thug Culture.

Over the course of a three-part series on her work, I’ll be sharing clips of her enlightening wisdom—insights that every woman should be tripping over herself to absorb. Here’s the first 5 minutes, where she speaks about why she decided to write Think in the first place.

Startling, right? I was especially aghast at the part about primetime TV shows not wanting to air intelligent, serious stories because “women won’t watch.” Yikes! What can we do about this? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

You can follow Lisa on twitter at @LisaBloom.