Women’s empowerment has been one of the most profound cultural shifts in Western societies in recent decades. While this process has gained prominence in public discourse, another transformation is taking place with less visibility: that of men and their place in this new social order.
Defining it has become surprisingly complex. In Chile, a study by ICSO-UDP (Ciper, 2025) identified five profiles of masculinity, ranging from more egalitarian views to strongly traditional positions. The result is a fragmented—and at times contradictory—landscape surrounding authority, care, intimacy, and power. According to the same survey, more than half of Chileans today describe men with negative attributes.
Globally, a study by King’s College London and Ipsos reveals that one in three Generation Z men agrees that a wife should obey her husband; 30% believe they should not say “I love you” to their friends; 43% believe they should appear physically tough; and 21% believe that caring for children diminishes their masculinity. Added to this is another worrying sign: the weakening of their support networks. In the United States, the proportion of those who say they have no close friends rose from 3% to 15% over three decades (Survey Center on American Life).
In his book *Notes on Being a Man* (2024), Professor Scott Galloway argues that many young people have lost the “stepping stones” to a stable adulthood: education, a promising career, meaningful relationships, community, and purpose. When these structures weaken, the need to belong does not disappear; what is lost is the path to achieving it. The figures reflect this shift: in OECD countries, 54% of young women attain higher education compared to 41% of men, and in Chile the trend is similar: 45% versus 37%.
In the digital ecosystem, another factor emerges. Platforms have turned male anxiety into a business. Content about quick money, strength, or instant success circulates as promises of control in a world perceived as uncertain. For many young people, this is where the recognition and sense of belonging that were once offered by other institutions now appear.
Galloway warns that the space once occupied by work, community, or family is now, all too often, being captured by algorithms that, by monetizing anxiety, amplify emotions and organize communities around frustration.
The question is not whether men today face the same inequalities that women historically faced, but what happens when a generation grows up without a clear path forward.
The task at hand does not seem to be restoring the masculinity of the past, but rather rebuilding pathways to ensure purpose, work, and community for young people. Because when institutions fail to provide meaning, someone else fills that void. And today, all too often, that someone is an algorithm.
Mónica Retamal F.
Executive Director at Kodea