Opinion: The Crisis Is Real. But the Manosphere Isn’t the Answer

Mike Duncan speaks to a group at the Cache Creek Conservancy in Woodland in 2021. Duncan is the founder of Native Dads Network, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that runs workshops on healthy parenting and relationships throughout Northern California, primarily for Native Americans. Photo by Martin do Nascimento/Resolve Magazine

By Gustavo López and Regi Wingo

There’s no denying it — many men are struggling. Wages are stagnant. Housing is unaffordable. Suicide and addiction rates are climbing. Loneliness is everywhere. The institutions that once gave men a sense of place — unions, community centers, stable jobs — have disappeared.

But the reactionary masculinity solution of toughening up, dominating, and grinding harder is not the answer.

We’re locked into an unbreaking cycle of blaming individuals for structural problems, making them scapegoats for crises we’ve long been unwilling to confront. And the trickle-down effect to all genders and races is terrifying.

As men who help lead organizations focused on advancing healing and working with boys and men of color, we want to be clear: This is not about painting men as the victim.

It’s about shifting the conversation from “What’s wrong with men?” to “What is happening in our society that is causing so much suffering across all genders?”

This is part of centuries of cyclical patriarchal backlash that comes back each time progress is made toward gender justice. The rise of the manosphere is about preserving systems that have historically placed wealthy white men at the top. It’s backlash disguised as empowerment.

In our work and daily life, the danger in the so-called manosphere is glaring. But simply critiquing toxic masculinity isn’t enough. We have to offer something better, not just tear down what’s broken.

Reactionary masculinity has a lineage. As author Susan Faludi documented in “Backlash,” every time progress is made—whether it’s suffrage, Title IX, Me Too, or trans rights — there’s a cultural effort to claw it back.

Civil rights leaders James and Grace Lee Boggs demonstrated this first when James saw how capitalism and automation alienated working-class men, stripping them of meaning and stability. Grace called us to not only resist, but to evolve. For them, revolution was about becoming new people. That’s the challenge today: not just to critique masculinity as it exists — but to co-create new systems, new values, and new relationships that actually serve all of us. This is similar wisdom that grounds the work of Growing a New Heart — transformational work requires us to transform ourselves from the inside out.

The manosphere, however, replays the same reactionary script that’s been used to fight progress for decades. Its message to struggling men is blame feminism — not capitalism, not white supremacy, not the billionaires.

And it works, because the pain men are experiencing is real. At the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and at Growing a New Heart, we’ve seen what works:

Stable jobs. Culturally rooted healing spaces. Mentors who reflect the lived realities of young men. Programs that meet both social and material needs.

When young men have the chance to process trauma, build community and engage in political education, they become grounded leaders. They start imagining new ways of being. And this applies to people across the gender spectrum, not just boys and men.

If we’re serious about addressing the state of men in America, here’s what we need to do:

New Systems: We need policy solutions that guarantee housing, healthcare and dignified employment — not just for men, but for everyone. We need a political economy that centers care over punishment and people over profit.

New Culture: We need to invest in cultural transformation — not just through content or “the better podcast,” but by resourcing the organizations that have been doing this work in the community for decades. That includes intergenerational spaces where men can unlearn toxic norms and build healthier masculinities grounded in accountability, emotional literacy, and belonging.

Co-Creation: Men must have a voice in shaping the future — not one dictated by corporate elites or fascist influencers. That means building movements, not just brands. Justice-centered frameworks of gender and power, not power over others.

The truth is men are not served by patriarchy.

They’re just conditioned to believe it’s the only option. And that’s the lie we must confront. What we must offer instead is a different kind of masculinity — one rooted in care, clarity and collective liberation.

This work won’t be easy. It won’t be solved with a single think piece or a viral campaign. But it’s urgent — and it’s happening in communities both state and nationwide.

A better future is possible — for men, and for everyone. But we can’t get there by looking backward.