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I think it’s really very simple.

Historically a boy became a man by assuming the roles of husband and father. These gave him a place in society. He was needed and felt the responsibility to those who needed him. He was respected by others for assuming this responsibility.

Today a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, and often tells him so. Why should a man assume responsibility that doesn’t really exist? The government is always there to be substitute husband and father.

The basic “natural” family is mother plus children. The idea of having a man around as husband and father appears increasingly dispensable.

I would be remiss if I let this thread slip by without mentioning this book...

It's about a father's role in helping a son transition from boyhood to manhood, setting goals, and marking achievements along the route.

Destroy the concept of “man”,
and you destroy the concept/role of “father”.

Destroy the father,
destroy the family.

Destroy the family,
destroy the society and nation.

The commies (and Satan) know this.

"Historically a boy became a man by assuming the roles of husband and father."

Or, a boy became a man when he had to provide for himself. His own income, his own home/apartment, pay his own insurance, etc. And because girls weren't easy to get into the sack, the fellow married young (thereby becoming the husband and father you reference, with the additional duties of manhood).

I wasn't a perpetual student but was in college for 6 years and got a master's degree in engineering at age 25. I remember calling my father "Daddy" at one point at that age and he looked at me strange and almost got angry. He muttered that "today's society let's men be children waaaay too long." It took another 15 years, with me having my own three children, to realize how right he was.

Mark Steyn addresses this issue, in the European context, in his book "America Alone."

Historically a boy became a man by assuming the roles of husband and father.

Which, nowdays, one is encouraged to delay as long as possible (not just by women being told they don't need a man, but by society at large saying "not yet").

Get a degree. Get another degree. Get a job. Nurture a career. Wait until you're thirtysomething. Get a home. Buy. Travel. More. ... by then, the poor schlep is almost old enough to be a grandfather (pushing that maybe, but still!).

Moving into my forties, I'm realizing that husband-and-father IS what, deep down, most males need be for fulfillment. Following society's "not yet" imperative does not satisfy this, leaving him to fill time with undirected amusements and urges - to wit, prolonged adolescence. Yes, he should wait long enough to "discover himself", establish independence, and find Miss Right (not hyphenated with -Now), but he should do so with husband-and-father as a goal, not something drifted into via/despite time-filling amusements & indulgences.

...and to achieve this at a suitable age (about 25, given that he really should get a degree, job, and real estate), he needs to know that there is someone else out there waiting for him to achieve such readiness (instead of merely prolonging teenhood) - lest she give up on finding him and go to another who is ready.