When President Obama recently announced the formation of a White House Council on Women and Girls, he caught heat from both sides – from women who accused him of doing too little for their sex, and from those who accused him of doing too much, insisting that it’s boys and men who need special attention these days, not girls and women.

Guys do seem to be having a tough time of it. Look at the job statistics: A year ago, the unemployment rate for men aged 45 to 55 was below the national average, now it’s 8.7 percent compared to the 8.1 percent for the nation as a whole. For women of the same age, the jobless rate falls to 5.7 percent. Similar discrepancies hold out across the board, for men and women of all ages and all education levels.

College admissions tell a similar story. The census bureau recently reported that 55 percent of undergraduate spots are going to women, plus 60 percent of the places in graduate schools. College, of course, is only for those who make it through high school, and there again the numbers for boys aren’t great. About three-quarters of the girls who enter high school graduate; the number drops to about two-thirds of the boys.