The Masculinity Crisis--Origins

No one, not even feminist women, denies that we are in the full throes of a masculinity crisis in the United States, if not the West as a whole. By every measure—plunging testosterone levels, depressed personal income, withdrawal from the dating market—men are failing to not only achieve their potential but also to fulfill their primary role as men.

It seems like this crisis appeared suddenly, yet it’s been brewing for some time. Its roots stretch back more than a century, while its acceleration is quite recent. There are solutions, and individual men can make use of them. On a wider scale, though, we must transform our culture to resolve what is a foundational failure to support and encourage masculinity.

The disappearance of connections is one of the primary causes of the masculinity crisis: connection with the body, with the self, with others, with the community. In part, we can blame the industrial revolution, which led to the dissolution of the village and the impetus for mass migration to the cities. Before that, small towns predominated, where each man was responsible for fulfilling a pre-determined role. In general, those roles were passed down from father to son. The son of a blacksmith was destined to become a blacksmith, the son of a farmer a farmer, and so on. These occupational roles were fulfilled by providing tools to the young men so that they could develop their capacity to achieve their mission in life—productivity and supporting a family.