What Did Men Do to Deserve This?

Source: newyorker.com

TL;DR

• Jessica Winter critiques the idea of a unique crisis for young American men, spotlighted by Scott Galloway's book Notes on Being a Man.
• Female students outnumber males 3-to-2 in college; men die by suicide at 3.5 times women's rate; 15%+ of men live with parents into mid-thirties.
• Stats reflect broad economic woes from manufacturing decline, not manhood alone; framing as male-specific risks gender-free solutions.

The story at a glance

Jessica Winter examines Scott Galloway's promotion of a young-men-in-crisis narrative through his book Notes on Being a Man and related political moves by Democrats like Gavin Newsom and Rahm Emanuel. Galloway cites stats on college gaps, suicide, wages, and living at home to argue for an "aspirational vision of masculinity." The piece is reporting now amid Galloway's book launch, Newsom's July 2025 executive order on men and boys, and 2024 election shifts where Trump gained with young men.[[1]](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this?campaign_id=120206435257180549&ad_id=120241831013230549)[[2]](https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-7-30.Men-and-Boys-Workgroup-EO.ATTESTED.pdf)

Key points

• Galloway, a podcaster and investor, calls young men a cohort that has "fallen farther, faster," using stats like women outnumbering men 3-to-2 in college and men's suicide rate 3.5 times higher than women's.[[1]](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this?campaign_id=120206435257180549&ad_id=120241831013230549)
• By mid-thirties, over 15% of men live with parents versus under 9% of women; young male bachelor's holders aged 23-30 face nearly double the unemployment of women.
• Newsom's July 30, 2025, executive order targets California's "crisis of connection and opportunity for men and boys"; Emanuel's op-ed ties male despondency to housing costs.[[2]](https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-7-30.Men-and-Boys-Workgroup-EO.ATTESTED.pdf)
• Galloway's book pushes "Men Protect, Provide, and Procreate," countering figures like Andrew Tate with Boy Scout-like virtues: fitness, resilience, hard work, prudence.
• Winter notes these traits seem gender-neutral; manufacturing's fall hit working-class men hard, especially Black men post-civil rights, but data can frame women or all in crisis.
• Democrats seek a "centrist manosphere" via policy like zoning fixes, amid Trump winning men under 30 by 56% in 2024, up from 2020.

Details and context

The man-crisis talk draws bipartisan notice after Trump's young-male gains, fueled by the "manosphere" of podcasters from libertarians to nationalists. Newsom hosted Charlie Kirk, who blamed lost American Dreams; both sides cite social media's mental-health toll, though girls suffer more from it per some data.[[1]](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this?campaign_id=120206435257180549&ad_id=120241831013230549)

Galloway blames wealth transfer to elders for high education/housing costs hitting young men, who lack clear purpose without old industrial jobs. Yet Winter argues economic incentives explain college gaps—trades suit men more—and overall woes like stagnant low-end wages affect everyone multidirectionally.

Past unionized manufacturing jobs offered men steady pensions, eroded over generations; civil-rights gains opened them wider to Black men before the collapse.

Key quotes

“Men Protect, Provide, and Procreate.” —Scott Galloway, in Notes on Being a Man.[[1]](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this?campaign_id=120206435257180549&ad_id=120241831013230549)

“Seldom in recent memory has there been a cohort that’s fallen farther, faster.” —Scott Galloway, in Notes on Being a Man.[[1]](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/what-did-men-do-to-deserve-this?campaign_id=120206435257180549&ad_id=120241831013230549)

Why it matters

Talk of a male crisis shapes policy from Newsom's order to Democratic triangulating, potentially diverting from shared economic fixes like housing and jobs. For young people, it means gender-framed advice like Galloway's credo, which risks overlooking women's parallel struggles or gender-neutral paths like trades and fitness. Watch Democratic responses post-2024, such as expanded initiatives, though data tilts and broader reforms remain uncertain.