In the quarter century that I have worked on women’s and men’s issues, there has never been a moment when I have seen men feeling more gagged, and more ready to remove their gags, than now. I see men searching for ways to explore the only space men have been unwilling to explore — their inner space. The next quarter century will provide an opportunity for thousands of men and women to be pioneers in this exploration. The discoveries will assist men out of isolation — and, therefore, out of the drugs, divorce, depression, suicide, and the early deaths that are isolation’s legacy.
Male anguish is not the concern of men alone. A man’s suicide affects his wife, children, parents, colleagues, friends. So does his early death, his alcoholism, his addiction to beautiful young women. . . Each affects corporate profits and national productivity. When men are victims, we are all victims.
The Myth of Male Pouter is not a return to the 1950s man; it is a leap forward to the 2050s man. And the 2050s woman. It is about why male — female roles that were functional for the species for millions of years have become dysfunctional in an evolutionary instant