For years commentators have pointed to statistics about men falling behind. Men are less likely to graduate, more likely to overdose, more likely to live at home, and less likely to marry. Yet statistics describe symptoms, not causes. The deeper story is not about men being inherently broken but about a cultural and economic foundation that was pulled out from under them. What looks like a crisis of masculinity is in fact a reckoning with political betrayal, religious mythmaking, and decades of economic policies that hollowed out the middle class.
The Golden Era That Never Was
In the years after World War II, the American dream seemed simple. A man could finish high school, work in a factory, buy a house, raise a family, and retire with a pension. Religion reinforced this vision. Sunday sermons celebrated the provider as head of the household and framed faith, family, and country as one sacred package. Yet this dream was limited almost entirely to white men. Women, immigrants, and people of color were cast as outsiders or supporting characters. Even then the golden age was a mirage.
The system was propped up by strong unions, wartime industrial growth, and exclusionary policies that kept many groups from accessing the same opportunities. It was never built to last. By the 1970s oil shocks, automation, and globalization began to erode stability. Wages stagnated while costs climbed. Still, the cultural narrative did not update. Churches and politicians alike insisted that family values and hard work were enough, even as the foundations cracked.
Reagan and the Great Betrayal
The breaking point came in the 1980s with Ronald Reagan. Tax rates for the wealthy were slashed from seventy percent to twenty eight. Unions were gutted. Deregulation swept through the economy. Corporate profits soared while working men lost pensions and job security. The middle class was not left behind by accident. It was sacrificed for wealth consolidation at the top.
Religion played a decisive role in masking this betrayal. The rise of the Moral Majority fused evangelical identity with conservative politics. Instead of pointing anger at corporations, religious leaders framed feminism, abortion, and secular culture as the true threats. Reagan wrapped corporate policy in Christian language, telling men they were the backbone of America even as he snapped that backbone in half.
The Masculinity Vacuum
When stable jobs vanished, the old masculine script collapsed. Men were told they were providers and protectors, but the economic conditions that made that role possible were gone. Religion did not offer new answers. It largely recycled the same patriarchal script, urging men to lead households even if they could no longer provide financially. The gap between expectation and reality widened into despair.
Into that vacuum rushed algorithms, influencers, and rage merchants. They promised that the problem was not capitalism but feminism, immigrants, or queer visibility. They offered cosplay masculinity, loud and angry but shallow, dependent on constant validation. Churches often echoed this message, doubling down on gender roles rather than reimagining community for a new age.
Right-Wing Exploitation
By the 1990s and 2000s the fusion of conservative politics and evangelical faith was complete. Prosperity gospel megachurches told men their struggles were signs of weak faith rather than structural injustice. Politicians told them their frustrations came from cultural decline rather than economic exploitation.
Donald Trump became the ultimate expression of this dynamic. He did not fix men’s lives. He gave them permission to stop pretending they were fine and turned their brokenness into a political weapon. Men who could not afford rent were told the real problem was women with careers or immigrants crossing the border. Rage was sold as patriotism, grievance as gospel.
How to Fix It
Masculinity is not dead. It is simply misused, hijacked, and poorly marketed. The old script of job, house, wife, and pension is gone. It will not return. The challenge is to build something better.
Strength must be redefined. It is not dominance or intimidation but patience, accountability, and the willingness to contribute when no one is watching. Community must be rebuilt. Real brotherhood is found in friendships, mentorship, volunteering, and showing up for others, not in echo chambers or culture war rallies. Blame must be abandoned. Women, minorities, and cultural change are not the culprits. The true betrayal came from policies that redistributed wealth upward and leaders who distracted the public with moral panic.
Finally, masculinity must stop being consumed as a product. It is not a cologne, a podcast subscription, or a YouTube channel. It is lived daily through consistency, contribution, and care.
The Way Forward
Religion once sanctified the golden age of the male provider. Later it sanctified the scapegoats that distracted from systemic betrayal. If there is to be a renewal, faith communities must play a different role. They must emphasize accountability over authority, compassion over control, and service over status.
Masculinity is not dying. It is being exploited. The path forward is to strip away the lies, reject nostalgia, and rebuild communities that give men purpose without requiring others to be beneath them. That future will not be handed down from politicians or preachers. It will be built, one act of integrity at a time.