It’s Under Siege
By the Editors of Can’t Be Censored
TORONTO – June 26, 2025
If you listen to pop culture, school boards, or HR departments long enough, you might think masculinity itself is a problem to be solved — a character flaw that needs correcting. But step outside the curated talking points and a different story emerges: one where young men are struggling not because they’re too dominant, but because they’ve been told they shouldn’t be men at all.
In 2025, nearly every major indicator for male well-being in Canada is headed in the wrong direction. Men are more likely to drop out of school, die by suicide, overdose, or live at home well into their 30s. Testosterone levels are falling. Workforce participation is declining. Fatherlessness is rising. For the first time in modern history, boys and young men are doing worse than their female counterparts across almost every social metric — and very few institutions are addressing it.
This isn’t about turning back the clock. It’s about recognizing that the pendulum may have swung too far in the other direction.
In many schools, normal male traits — assertiveness, competition, physical energy — are increasingly pathologized. In popular media, fathers are often portrayed as either absent, inept, or irrelevant. And in elite circles, expressions of traditional masculinity are routinely labeled as “toxic,” even when they manifest as leadership, protection, or resilience.
The irony is that this demonization of masculinity often comes from the same institutions that depend on it — whether it’s policing, construction, military service, emergency response, or even the protection of free speech. Strength, discipline, loyalty, and responsibility aren’t liabilities. They’re what hold society together. And men across the country are realizing they’ve been discouraged from cultivating exactly those traits.
But something is changing. From weight rooms to podcasts to faith-based men’s groups and martial arts mats, a quiet reawakening is underway. A growing number of men — especially younger ones — are rejecting the idea that masculinity is inherently harmful. They’re rebuilding it on their own terms: disciplined, dangerous, and anchored in values.
This shift isn’t about ego or dominance. It’s about meaning. Men want purpose. They want to build, protect, provide, and lead. And they’re tired of being told that wanting those things makes them part of the problem.
If society wants stronger families, healthier communities, and more grounded young people, it won’t get there by shaming men into silence. It will get there by reminding them who they are — and why it matters.
Masculinity isn’t the crisis. The crisis is pretending we don’t need it.
