This is the opening scene of The Hurt Locker, a 2008 film in which the protagonist is part of a three-man bomb disposal squad in Iraq.

Ninety-eight percent of explosive ordnance disposal technicians are men. Between 77 and 81 percent are white men specifically.

Pictured: EOD SGM Mike Vining

We pathologize masculinity, yet masculinity is the very quality that leads men to put their lives on the line for perfect strangers every day.

Likewise, 93 percent of garbage truck drivers are men. Yet we don’t hear demands to diversify this section of the workforce.

Our men are in trouble. In America, White males, who make up 31 percent of the population, account for almost 70 percent of suicides in America—nearly four times the rate of women.

In the UK, 74 percent of suicides are men. Whites made up 95 percent of those suicide deaths. Most of these men are between 40 and 50 and have difficulty with employment or are separated or divorced.

Also in the UK, 77 percent of men have suffered from symptoms of common mental health conditions such as anxiety, stress, or depression, yet 40 percent of men have never talked about their mental health to anyone.

These don’t have to be simple grim statistics. We can actively create a policy environment that encourages male happiness by celebrating healthy masculinity and family formation.

We can start by introducing these policy priorities:

Start by prioritizing the 49.81 million prime working-age men who are currently unemployed, under-employed, or not otherwise in the labor force. Eliminate diversity initiatives that promote women in policing, firefighting, and search and rescue solely for the sake of “equity.” Female officers are regularly unable to control male suspects, as women have barely 50 percent of the upper body strength and 60 percent of the lower body strength of men. This isn’t only a matter of effectiveness and security, but women want this too. Despite decades of “She can do it!” propaganda for girls, a 2022 study found that protective men have much higher desirability in the eyes of women. She can do it, but only if she has to.

Restore all-male social spaces. According to the Survey Center on American Life, in 1990, 55 percent of men could claim six or more close friends. Only 3 percent said they had no friends. Now, only 27 percent of men say they have six or more close friends, and a shocking 15 percent claim to have no close friends.

Relating to the former statistic, networking through friendship and civic groups is the most important factor in job-hunting. Yet men’s spaces are dwindling. For example, the Boy Scouts of America allowed girls to join in 2018 and then lost half its membership between 2019 and 2021.

Encourage marriage and fertility. Married men are healthier both mentally and physically than unmarried men. Married men survive twice as long when they have debilitating diseases and earn significantly more than unmarried men. This works well for women, too. Married mothers report the highest life satisfaction of all women. Lastly, understanding fertility should be a mandatory part of sex education. 1 in 5 American women are unaware that age affects their fertility. According to the National Survey of Family Growth, 1 in 7 women in the U.S. have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy.

Promote a breadwinner economy through remigration. Masculine men want jobs—more importantly, jobs that sustain a family. Both men and women still prefer men to be the “breadwinners” in marriage. According to a 2019 study by Dr. Joanna Sydra, male stress levels rise if their female partner earns more than 40 percent of the household income. Women want men who have jobs that can support them and their children. Fifty-six percent of women with children would prefer to be stay-at-home mothers. The best way to do this immediately is through remigration. Immigration dramatically depresses the wages of the native-born, and since 1980, it has eviscerated the middle class. We can start restoring living-wage jobs by reversing the trend.

A nation is only as strong as its families, and strong men make strong families. As a civilization, we should cherish them as they cherish us. Prioritize their employment, encourage marriage, and celebrate masculinity.

More on Masculinity, Marriage, and Family from White Papers:

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This article was originally published on June 23, 2026, on Substack. Cyan Quinn is the director and co-founder of White Papers Policy Institute. She studied political philosophy and biology at Seattle Pacific University. After working in organized labor, she left “the Left” in 2014 to instead persuade Western nations to exclude themselves from the global “race to the bottom,” reconnect with our natural identity, and protect the unique (and most excellent) civilization we created. She now lives near Washington, D.C., with her family. You can follow White Papers Policy Institute on X, Substack, and support their mission here.