In a discussion about post-modernism, Noam Chompsky suggested that this movement became popular, not due to its correctness, it due to its absurdity. He claims that society and the media are always on the hunt for something new, for the next big thing, and if you’re incapable of saying something new, you have to say something crazy. The example he gives is a postmodern paper which claims that the Egyptian Pharoh Tutankhamun could not possible have died of tuberculosis, because tuberculosis was a social construct that was invented much later.

If any of you remember 10 years ago, ideas which we now see as commonplace (the demonisation of masculinity as being “toxic”, modern fiction needing to be edited and controlled by feminists to stop men being so toxic, men being privileged in everything despite being grossly underrepresented in universities…)…all these things were seen as insane. They were addressed alongside religious fundamentalists and young Earth creationists: that’s how absurd they were perceived as. But due to post-modernism and the search for ever more crazy headlines, their absurdity was a benefit, not a detriment.

To add fuel to this fire, the media needs a constant stream of sensationalist headlines, ones that grab people’s’ attentions. Stories about rape, violence crime and other horrible stories are the ones which they doubled down on, which lead to the general public believing these crimes had skyrocketed, and criminal men were always the focal point of this kind of story.

However, violence perpetrated by men was and is at an all-time low, but the media has done everything it can to ignore this fact. So, driven by the yellow press, the public is suddenly under an impression that peaceful men are suddenly far more violent than they’ve ever been. From this putrid series of events rise these attacks on masculinity: men are toxic! men need to be controlled! Men are a danger to society! Men are demons! Despite the fact that masculinity in men is an extremely healthy and necessary part of society.

Male suicides were on a downward trajectory, but as of 2015, they have been on the increase. There is little question that society is now failing men, just as other groups such as LGBT+ and racial minorities were being failed. A study recently found that false Facebook posts travel much further than true Facebook posts: being false and misleading is actually an advantage in modern day society.

The only way I see this getting better is if society finally decides it is bored with endlessly doomscrolling, if we collectively get tired of consuming the latest sensationalist garbage that’s rammed down our throats. But to do this, we would have to overcome millions of years of evolutionary programming that’s taught us to be hyper aware of threats to our on safety and the safety of our children. Because if we are not capable of doing this, we are in for a BUMPY ride over the coming decades…