New Equimundo Report Shows What American Men Are Really Thinking

Equimundo’s 2025 State of American Men report paints a sobering portrait of the individual and collective challenges facing American men today.

This geographically, educationally, and occupationally representative survey of 2,454 people both confirms and expands upon existing trends. Economic distress, rigid masculinity norms, social isolation, disdain for cancel culture, and harmful online influences emerged as throughlines–intertwined with and compounding one another.

Support for traditionalist views on gender and manhood is rising. Over half (55%) of men believe that a boyfriend or husband “deserves to know where she is at all times,” up from 46 percent in 2017. Agreement with the statement “a gay guy isn’t a real guy” jumped nine percentage points over the same period.

Providing for one’s family ranked highest among valued masculine traits. A substantial 86% of men identified this as the most important quality they should have as a man. At the same time, three quarters of men said it’s harder for their generation to feel financially secure than their father’s, and over half say that home ownership is out of reach. This disconnect, between what it takes to “be a man” and the economic realities that men face, is startling. 

The report’s authors argue that this convergence of financial angst and stiff gender expectations is brewing a ‘perfect storm’ for a men's mental health crisis, and the data bears this out. Men grappling with financial insecurity were 16.3 times more likely to report recent suicidal thoughts, with Asian and Black men particularly affected. Those falling in the ‘man box’ (“a restrictive set of masculine norms that demand emotional stoicism, dominance, and self-reliance”) were 6.3 times more likely to experience the same.

To make matters worse, most men still feel they’re falling short. Sixty-three percent of male respondents wished they were more masculine, with the highest levels of insecurity found among Gen Z and those facing financial hardship. These feelings are amplified by the manosphere, especially for younger audiences. 55 percent of men agree that more masculine energy is needed in the workplace, and nearly half believe one must be an “alpha male” to find a romantic partner.

Interwoven with these statistics is loneliness and pessimism about romantic futures. Gen Z adults, men and women alike, were most likely to say “I don’t think anyone can fall in love with me.” Among men, this is coupled with a real sense of neglect. Sixty-nine percent of Gen Z males agree that “no one cares if men are okay,” a sentiment echoed by half of women.

The survey also touched on the ways in which the manosphere may be intersecting and influencing views about democracy and civic life.

Men and women most supportive of views commonly voiced in the manosphere were the most likely to endorse anti-democratic, zero-sum thinking. Alarmingly, fifty-seven percent of all men said the U.S. would be better off with a strong leader who “doesn’t bother with elections,” and about half believe that for one group to succeed, another must lose. Interestingly, women were more likely to support wrecking-ball rhetoric– sixty-seven percent said a president that “tears it all down” is the “only way forward,” compared to forty-five percent of men.

Together, these findings paint a bleak picture. But that’s not to say there’s an absence of hope.

Across the board, men and women share overwhelming support for care-forward policies. Eighty-seven percent of men and ninety-one percent of women agree that employees would be “happier and more productive” with access to subsidized healthcare. About four out of five in each group support employer-provided childcare.

And despite the resurgence of more rigid gender attitudes, there are signs of rising emotional tolerance among men. Seventy-two percent agree that part of being a man is sharing care work and housework, while sixty-two percent include emotional openness. Furthermore, the data makes clear that most men aren’t going online with ill intentions. The two most common reasons cited for going online were entertainment and finding community. 

Men are struggling–to understand why, we must look at the bigger picture. Isolation, economic despair, and unforgiving paradigms of masculinity are combining with a toxic manosphere. But there is hope too in these findings, and a real desire for change. Hopefully, Equimundo’s timely report can be a call to action.