Young men are facing a collective crisis of masculinity, but they are too isolated from each other to address it together.

The number of men who report having zero close friends has increased from 3% in 1990 to 15% in 2021, while the size of social circles in general has decreased dramatically. Men feel more lonely than ever before, and they turn to their vices to deal with it.

Addiction to pornography is widespread among young men, and roughly two-thirds watch pornography weekly or more. Men make up the majority of “deaths of despair,” such as alcohol poisoning, while male drug overdose deaths are more than twice as common as female overdose deaths. Moreover, the suicide rate among men is four times higher than among women. 

Academically, things are similarly bad. Men earn less than half of bachelor’s degrees and less than half of graduate degrees. 41% of young women have college degrees, compared to only 32% of young men. Most of the top 10% of high school students are girls, while most of the bottom 10% are boys. Females are more likely to graduate high school than males, but the achievement gap starts as early as elementary school, where girls outperform boys in standardized tests by more than 40% of a grade level. Even after completing school, millions of men are not participating in the workforce.

Romantic prospects for men are low as well. While two-thirds of single men say they are looking for a relationship, only one-third of single women say the same, leaving a large number of men completely excluded from the dating market.

Men have largely been left behind by a culture that talks more about “toxic masculinity” than the positive aspects of having strong male figures. Guys-only spaces, such as the Boy Scouts, are being destroyed, and entertainment franchises, such as Star Wars, are openly hostile to their mostly male audiences. While men are struggling, they are also villainized constantly.

Unfortunately, this marginalization has resulted in many men turning to poor role models, such as pornographer Andrew Tate or antisemitic troll Nick Fuentes. These cranks promote degeneracy and debauchery, appealing to the worst tendencies of men. However, they are the natural result of decades of propaganda against actually healthy masculine behavior.

Immoral influencers do not provide a real solution, but how can this crisis of masculinity be solved?

Firstly, and most importantly, men need to find a real community. Twitter group chats or Discord servers are not real life, and people who meet online rarely become real friends. In high school or college, it is a lot easier to tell men to join student organizations or find friends through classes, but this is much more difficult post-graduation. The easiest way, and best place, to find a community is at church. Many churches even have men’s support groups, but just going to church on Sundays and talking with someone for a few minutes afterward could be enough.

Secondly, despite the aforementioned difficulty with finding meaningful romantic relationships, men do need to pursue women who want to get married. This starts with behaving in a respectable manner. That is, they cannot engage in a hookup culture that is detrimental to their mental health and future relationships. While not a hard and fast rule, dating apps should also probably be avoided. Again, church is one of the best possible places to find a future spouse. More importantly than that, however, men need to actually ask women out instead of waiting around indefinitely. This may seem like a no-brainer, but nearly half of men aged 18-25 have never asked out a woman in person.

Going to the gym instead of watching pornography, reading a book instead of doom scrolling through Instagram, having breakfast with friends instead of sleeping in, going to bed instead of watching YouTube until midnight, eating an apple instead of eating Skittles, or simply finding something to do after work instead of going home right away are all simple cures to simple problems, but are still often overlooked.

While these are all things that can be accomplished at the individual level, we also need to promote a culture that embraces the positive aspects of masculinity — most importantly, being a good husband and a good father. This is particularly difficult because one-third of children are raised in a home with an absent father, so many men never had a positive male role model to look up to.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Above all else, men feel as if they have no sense of purpose. This is a natural result of a secular, cynical, and sleazy culture. Men need each other, women, religion, and to feel like they belong. While encouraging men to do what they can for themselves is a critical first step, rebuilding institutions such as religion and the nuclear family are necessary societal efforts.

There is probably no other demographic group facing an intersection of crises to such an extraordinary degree. Young men need to be heard, and they need our help.