Healing relational trauma requires vulnerability, yet traditional masculinity prizes emotional control. This creates a painful paradox for men, where the very act required for healing feels like it threatens their identity and risks emasculation in their partner's eyes, making avoidance feel safer.

With three-quarters of mental health providers being women, the field may have a significant blind spot regarding male issues. This gender imbalance can make it difficult for men to feel seen and heard, creating a structural barrier to effective treatment that goes beyond social stigma and pushes them towards toxic online communities.

Historically, cultures used rituals to push men beyond natural laziness. Today's anti-masculine narratives dismantle these social incentives, allowing many men to withdraw and not strive for traditional ideals of productivity and courage.

The successful fight for women's equality has inadvertently created a blind spot for the growing problems facing men, such as higher suicide rates and lower college enrollment. This 'elite neglect' from the left has alienated male voters, who feel their problems are ignored or that they are seen as the problem.

Productive conversations about men's struggles are stifled by a societal "gag reflex." This is caused by the far-right co-opting the issue with regressive solutions and the far-left reframing it as men *being* the problem, leading to immediate accusations of misogyny.

While the right promotes a flawed version of masculinity, the left's common response is to suggest men adopt more feminine traits. Galloway argues this is ineffective because it fails to offer an aspirational, positive vision of masculinity, leaving many men feeling alienated and unrepresented.

When addressing challenges faced by men, there's often societal pressure to first acknowledge the historical and ongoing struggles of women. This framing can irritate, exhaust, and dilute the focus on men's specific problems.

The crisis among young men stems from a societal narrative that pathologizes their core biological impulses. Traits like aggression, dominance, and ambition, which are natural drivers, are now deemed toxic. This creates internal conflict and a sense of worthlessness, contributing to 'deaths of despair.'

The system of American patriarchy, which elevates dominance, is detrimental even to its primary beneficiaries. It forces men to sever their natural connectedness to others and deny their own vulnerability, leading to negative personal and societal outcomes.