Caring Masculinities at 250: Where We Stand, Where We're Going

At a youthful 250 years of age, America continues its tug-of-war over the questions our founders failed to resolve by the Declaration of Independence, nor by the steamy Philadelphia summer of 1787, as they huddled together to establish a constitution capable of withstanding the turmoils of a nation’s course. Who is this country for? What should it aspire to be? For the bulk of American history, this answer has exclusively been designed by and answered for white men – in our laws, in our culture.

Opportunity was one of the few connective tissues among the founders, and today, opportunity remains far more accessible for some than others. Among young Americans, there’s a simmering resentment that opportunity seems to be slipping away, confided in the hands of a select few, along with the rising prosperity only visible to, well, a select few. For young men, faith in attaining the hallmarks of the American dream – owning a home, starting a family – has abated but not altogether been abandoned. The idea that pulling up your sleeves and bootstrapping can propel you to success is, in fact, quite popular. Yet young men no longer trust the American institutions and structures intended to support them in that quest.

In Equimundo/Young Men Research Project (YMRP)’s May survey of men and women ages 18-29, as part of the upcoming State of American Men report, just 17 percent of young men said that Americans are competing on an “even playing field” for jobs and opportunity. Young men think the system is unfair – the second most popular answer (35 percent) was that the economy is altogether “rigged” in favor of certain groups – yet most still adhere to the fundamental meritocratic promise: a plurality (48 percent) said, “some groups have certain advantages, but individual effort can overcome them.” Young men similarly strike the middle ground in their views on American exceptionalism: YMRP’s fall 2025 survey showed that 38 percent of young men believe the U.S. is the greatest country on earth, 44 percent called it no better or worse, and just 18 percent say America is worse overall than other countries.

The survey reinforced the biting hunger among Gen Z for a revitalization of the country their parents and grandparents inhabited, an America with tighter community bonds, clearer career pathways (free from the question, “will AI take my job?”), the pace of life, even the music and entertainment of these eras.

The grass is always greener, so they say, and there’s good reason to push back against the hyper-nostalgia defining the times. But we should also understand why young men and women alike believe America at 250 is not the America it could be – the America it should be.

Young people are lonelier than ever. They’re more anxious than ever. Economic inequality has intensified, wages have stagnated, and the accruing differences in status are now terribly visible, beckoning for us 24/7 at our fingertips. The community groups and spaces that once offered mooring have hollowed out, the burden of isolation falling heaviest on those in underserved areas, on those lacking a college education. Record-breaking heat wave follows record-breaking heat wave, while our elected leaders sit idly by. The inhuman treatment of humans is increasingly justified by those in power. Political corruption at the highest echelons of power is now happening in broad daylight, without remorse. Polarization metastasizes uncontained, further eroding the trust Americans have in our leaders and the neighbors next door.

To be clear, there’s incredible reason to be optimistic about the future. Violent crime has been falling for decades. Medical breakthroughs are happening at warp speed. Human longevity has stretched to a point once unfathomable in human history (LeBron James is averaging twenty-one points per game as a 41-year-old!). Artificial intelligence and computers have democratized education for the masses.

But for all the progress, for all the scientific breakthroughs, for every reason to be rationally optimistic about the grand trajectory of human flourishing, young people today have good reason to turn a blind eye to the aggregates. To feel alienated from the institutions and structures of ages past. To feel they’ve got the short end of the stick, and that things will only get worse.

We shouldn’t be surprised, then, how the zero-sum mindset is supplanting the idea of a growing pie. For young men especially, they’ve been fed the fallacy by online and offline voices that immigrants, women, transgender Americans, Jews, and other groups are responsible for this diminishing pie. As Equimundo’s 2025 State of American Men found, those who’ve adopted this mindset are significantly more likely to support the “tear it all down” figures antithetical to our nation’s democratic character. Separate research finds that individuals facing downward mobility are more likely to hold zero-sum views, and this “only strengthens” preexisting attitudes, especially common among men.

The cynicism and pessimism about the direction of our country is more pronounced now than ever. But we must not lose sight that for most young men, nihilism is crowded out by hope.

In the same Equimundo/YMRP May survey, a majority of young men (54 percent) agreed that the “American dream is attainable for me, personally,” compared to 33 percent who disagree. Most young men want to be fathers, and while there is still plenty of catching up to do in equal division of care labor, men are spending more time and doing more tasks than their dads or granddads. The research and programmatic work of Equimundo, YMRP, and other feminist partners repeatedly affirms how adaptable young men are to more compassionate masculinities.

As we reflect on America’s 250th, let us recognize that freedom and justice are not equally available to all. That the idea of the United States as an experiment ripe for tinkering and refinement, its north star pointed towards a more egalitarian and meritocratic end, hasn’t entirely escaped our public imagination. Let us remember the forgotten founding fathers, like Frederick Douglass, who tied liberation for one group to liberation of all groups. Let us recognize that caring masculinity calls on caring policies and collective solidarity – paid paternity leave, reproductive rights that protect women’s bodily autonomy, a social safety net that ensures the dignity of all citizens.

There is bravery in asking these existential questions about America’s promise. There is bravery in fighting for connection, in fighting for a country that promotes benevolence over bigotry. This tug-of-war won’t cease anytime soon. Moving young men toward care, toward a belief that the American dream is truly open to all, requires institutions and leaders who offer them a stake in this project.