You aren’t an old fart who mis-remembers (and I don’t even know you personally, muir_redwoods...
Many of the things that boys were suited for and that prepared them for manhood have been discouraged in society.
Kids aren’t encouraged to go out and play on their own with other kids. It seems like every hour of the day has to be scripted from front to back so there is no time for them to be “boys”.
Being in the Boy Scouts is now looked down on, as belonging to a homophobic organization. And the Boy Scouting that remains is going to be changed very soon.
Tackle football is going to be eventually made unavailable for boys at any level, because girls can’t compete in it, and you can actually hurt yourself playing it via broken bones or concussions.
Soccer is the game of choice, because all kids can play.
In my day, if a kid filled something up with match heads to try and make a firecracker, most adults would roll their eyes. Now they are viewed as fledgling terrorists.
In school, if you act even the least bit rambunctious, they fill you with Ritalin or funnel you into a special class.
I don’t have kids. If I did, I would never let them watch television. I would make a deal with them. You want to get a pilot’s license? Skydive? Scuba? Mountain climb? You name it, you can do it if you really want to, but you cannot watch television.
The portrayal of masculine men as idiots, and the glorification of pussies, if not outright teenage homosexuality as the ideal is appalling to me.
It isn’t just you. Things have changed.
Well-stated.