We pathologize masculinity, yet masculinity is the very quality that is what leads men to put their lives on the line for perfect strangers every day.
Likewise, 93% of garbage truck drivers are men. Yet we don’t hear demands to diversify this section of the workforce.
Our men are in trouble. In America, White males who make up 31% of the population account for almost 70% of suicides in America —nearly 4 times the rate of women.
In the UK, 74% of suicides are men. Whites made up 95% of those suicide deaths. Most of these men are between 40-50 and have difficulty with employment or are separated or divorced.
Also in the UK, 77% of men have suffered with symptoms of common mental health conditions such as anxiety, stress, or depression yet 40% of men have never talked about their mental health to anyone.
These don’t have to be simple grim statistics. We can actively create a policy environment that encourages male happiness by celebrating healthy masculinity and family formation.
We can start by introducing these policy priorities:
1. Start by prioritizing the 49.81 million prime working-age men who are currently unemployed, under-employed, or not otherwise in the labor force.Eliminate diversity initiatives that promote women in policing, firefighting, and search and rescue solely for the sake of “equity.” Female officers are regularly unable to control male suspects as women have barely 50% of the upper body strength and 60% of the lower body strength of men. This isn’t only a matter of effectiveness and security, but women want this too. Despite decades of “She can do it!” propaganda for girls, a 2022 study found protective men have much higher desirability in the eyes of women. She can do it, but only if she has to.
2. Restore all-male social spaces. According to the Survey Center on American Life, in 1990, 55% of men could claim six or more close friends. Only 3% said they had no friends. Now, only 27% of men say they have six or more close friends and a shocking 15% claim no close friends.
