To the Editor:
The Rev. Michael Heath’s article on the so-called “masculinity crisis” raises important concerns (“Finally, a reasonable response to the the masculinity crisis,“ Nov. 19, 2025). However, it misses a critical dimension of the issue and ultimately relies on an oversimplified narrative.
While the article blames political polarization for men’s alienation and holds up figures like Scott Galloway and Gov. Gavin Newsom as offering a “reasonable” middle path, it never addresses one of the most consequential and measurable factors behind young men’s struggles today: the steep decline in boys’ literacy and academic engagement.
If we are serious about understanding why so many young men feel lost, disconnected or angry, we must look beyond cultural talking points and examine what is happening inside American schools. For over two decades, national assessments have shown boys’ reading scores falling faster than girls’. Boys read far less for pleasure, report much lower confidence in their reading ability, and are far more likely to view reading and writing as “unmasculine.” This is not a cosmetic issue. Low literacy is directly correlated with poorer mental health outcomes, diminished civic participation and reduced economic mobility. These are precisely the kinds of instability the article claims to recognize.
The article correctly identifies a sense of alienation among young men, but misattributes the cause. Instead of focusing on whether progressives have been too critical of men or conservatives too dismissive of abuse, we should ask why the very habits that support emotional development — reading, reflection, communication — are rejected by many boys as incompatible with being a “real man.” The “masculinity crisis” is not simply a cultural backlash; it is, in part, the product of a generation of boys who never developed the literacy skills needed to thrive in a complex society.
The article also relies heavily on high-profile voices like Galloway and Newsom while ignoring the educators, psychologists and researchers who have been documenting this gender literacy gap for years. Their findings show a much more complicated picture — one shaped by school discipline systems that disproportionately punish boys, a lack of male role models who model intellectual engagement, and online spaces that reward impulsive, angry posturing over thoughtful discourse. If we want fewer young men falling into misogynistic online communities or emotionally stunted forms of masculinity, we must confront the academic disengagement that leaves them vulnerable in the first place.
A real solution to the “masculinity crisis” does not come from softening traditional masculine values or doubling down on them. It comes from expanding them. We must teach boys that strength includes empathy, that confidence grows through competence in communication, and that literacy is not a feminine trait but a human one. Addressing falling literacy rates would do far more to stabilize young men than any cultural debate about “toxic masculinity.”
Until we face the educational roots of this crisis, we will continue mistaking its symptoms for its causes.
Patrick Burke
Geddes
