No wonder men are opting out
May 18, 2026
The warning signs have been there for decades. Back in 1983, American author Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a powerful book – The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment – arguing that a male revolt was underway.
Since the 1950s, she suggested, men had begun rebelling against the breadwinner ethic – inspired by Playboy culture, the counterculture, and a desire for personal freedom. They were rejecting the cultural ideology that had shamed them into tying the knot and becoming a good provider, lest they be seen as immature, irresponsible, and less than a real man.
