The crisis of manhood: Who will teach our boys what it means to be a man?
This article explores the perceived crisis of masculinity among young boys in African urban centers. It argues that a lack of positive male role models and the influence of toxic societal values are leaving boys feeling lost, angry, or polarized.
Why it matters
It highlights a growing social concern regarding the psychological development of the next generation of men in Africa, suggesting a need for better mentorship and societal structural changes.
A waiter drops a tray of glasses. For one second, the whole restaurant stops. Forks freeze mid-air. Conversations die. Then, just as fast, the room goes back to normal. Someone sweeps up the glass. Nobody asks where the broken pieces went.
That is what is happening to boys in our cities right now, quietly, frequently, and no one is paying attention. Some things have been breaking in boys for years. Not all at once, but quietly and with devastating effect: at homes in Nairobi, Lagos, Kampala and Johannesburg; in gang corners in Soweto; bedrooms in Cairo, where a screen glows at 2am, a 14-year-old who stopped finishing his sentences six months ago, and whose father has not noticed.
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