In considering the younger men of ‘Generation Y’, and the tweens of ‘Generation Z’, the question then becomes: How do we prevent their disconnection from the world and each other? How do we circumvent the current social programing?
Mann’s comment regarding society’s promise of money, status, power, possessions and sex is key to understanding that the answer lies in reconnecting men with Nature and inviting them to let go (to a great degree) of the unhealthy attachment to materialism and their false sacredness of acquisition.
The answer begs to include the celebration of masculinity in all its manifestations, including those of intuition, emotion and nurturing capabilities. We need to instill young men (and older generations, too) with an understanding that they are connected both to men and woman with a purpose of integration and of finding wholeness in plurality. We need to celebrate their manhood in whatever form it takes.
We should encourage their masculine self-empowerment as co-creators with women, as opposed to shunning them as the oppressors of history and perpetuating a sense of sexual shame because they have penises.