Lunar | A ‘crisis of masculinity’ in US, China? Focus on the real victims

In both the US and China, there is growing pushback against the ‘feminisation’ of men and a reassertion of conservative positions on family and sexuality

While the prevailing narrative is that masculinity is under threat, are men the real victims here?

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Singer and actor Roy Wang Yuan of boy band TFBoys performs during his first solo concert at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre on August 31, 2019, in Nanjing in China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: VCG/Getty Images

Published: 11:02am, 5 Aug 2022Updated: 11:12am, 5 Aug 2022

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”. Well, in 2022, the “mass of men” are definitely not quiet, but they do seem desperate – to send us back in time, that is.

Across the globe, we are seeing a growing chorus about a “crisis of masculinity”. Men, we’re told, are being cast aside by a society that favours femininity, with masculinity itself dismissed as a priori toxic.

Indeed, despite the tense rhetoric and sabre rattling, portions of “the powers that be” within both the United States and China seem equally determined to push back against the “feminisation” of men and reassert conservative positions on family and sexuality.

One has to wonder where the crisis really is, and who the victims are.

In the US, right-wing politicians and public figures routinely extol the belief that “masculinity” is under threat by a radical leftist agenda. At the same time, the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling that gave women autonomy over their bodies, and more than 300 laws targeting LGBT rights have been introduced in state legislatures so far in 2022.

Of course, gun violence, which is overwhelmingly dominated by male shooters, continues unabated.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}Lunar | A ‘crisis of masculinity’ in US, China? Focus on the real victims

Lunar | A ‘crisis of masculinity’ in US, China? Focus on the real victims