Role of the male in contemporary Western Society
Men and families are struggling.
In Social Work education there is a huge emphasis on systems thinking. Our human development courses are usually entitled something like "Human behavior and Social Environment I, II, III. The jargon phrase is "person - in - situation".
Having been trained to think in systems terms, I am always alert to the social influences on individual behavior and this morning I was reminded of this quote from an interview that Yascha Mounk did with Richard Reeves about his book, "On Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What Tod Do About It."
As a 78 year old white cis male born at the end of 1945 on Christmas Day, 12/25, I was right at the beginning of the "baby boomers", and grew up with Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, and Father Knows Best. The changes I have seen in my lifetime brought about by the birth control pill introduced in 1960 have been seismic in social arrangements. As a Psychiatric Social Worker, I have watched these social forces influence my clients, their families, communities, and society at large in the Western world.
There are so many observations that are worthy of making note of. Perhaps one of the most significant is the increasing number of fatherless children growing up in our society. I am wondering what other people are observing as a result of the change in the role of the male in our society?
Let me add to my prior comment. I think perhaps Mother's Day in the US was established in 1908 or thereabouts because women barely received notice much less a thank you. Father's Day was formally proposed in Congress In the same year but it was defeated because men were already getting enough attention. But after Mother's Day was passed and signed into law then the next year Father's Day won (1909) because now Father's were not getting the recognition deserved. LOL!!! By 2024 however, we understood, however dimly, that women die in battle just like their brothers while the brothers raise the kids just like the moms. I suppose it evens out now.
Happy Mother's Day to you, too, David. (lol)