(1/2) Man the Mule: Passivity, the New Masculinity

In the fluorescent aisles of a grocery store, the modern man is on display. Slouched, checked-out, and trailing behind a partner who carries all the emotional and practical weight, he’s become a passive fixture instead of a leader. Through two painfully ordinary couples, this essay exposes the quiet crisis of contemporary masculinity: men who have traded agency for comfort, identity for appeasement, and strength for emotional sedation. It’s not malice. It’s drift. And it’s killing them from the inside out.