Across the Western world, men are facing a crisis few dare to name. Fathers stripped from their children. Men bankrupted by divorce courts. Masculinity hollowed out by a culture intent on rewriting gender itself. Beneath the surface of ordinary life, an unspoken war is being waged -- not on crime or poverty, but on men.
I didn’t set out to write a book about this war. Like many, I learned its reality the hard way. It isn’t just movie stars like Mel Gibson or Johnny Depp dragged through years of accusations and public humiliation. It’s millions of ordinary men facing the same injustices in silence. Depp’s ordeal -- years of false allegations, media bias, and legal warfare -- revealed how quickly a man can be presumed guilty. If a wealthy, famous actor barely cleared his name, what chance does an ordinary man have in a biased courtroom with no resources to defend himself?
My own story followed a familiar pattern. I was a man who thought he was in love. She was beautiful, charming, and full of affection. To outsiders, we looked perfect. But behind closed doors, I began to see manipulation and control. Affection turned transactional -- time, energy, and money always flowing one way. When I ended the relationship, I was met with accusations and financial pressure that seemed to come from nowhere. The system appeared to enable it. That was my awakening -- the moment I realized modern relationships and institutions were rigged against men. It was painful and humiliating, but it revealed a truth too many men only discover when it’s too late.
That truth -- the structural bias against men -- became the foundation for my book, The War on Men: How the New Gender Politics Is Undermining Western Civilization. Not written in bitterness, but in clarity, it exposes how systems once meant to protect families and fairness have been twisted into tools of exploitation.
The Marriage Contract: A Trap in Disguise
Most men enter marriage full of hope -- believing they’re pledging loyalty and love. In reality, they’re entering a legal contract in which the state is the superior partner. A marriage license is not a covenant between man, woman, and God; it is a three-party business arrangement controlled by the state. Once signed, the state claims authority over the union, the property, and even the children.
Legally, children of the marriage are the “fruit” of this contract -- which is why child protective services can seize them so easily. The framework descends from Roman civil law, granting the state ultimate jurisdiction. The man who thought he was creating a family is, in truth, signing away autonomy.
Marriage is the only major life decision men are told not to analyze. We plan careers, investments, and finances carefully -- but when it comes to marriage, men are told to “trust love.” Yet no other decision carries greater financial and emotional risk. A bad marriage can cost a man everything -- his savings, his children, and his peace of mind.
It’s in divorce court that the imbalance becomes undeniable. Under modern “no-fault” divorce laws, a woman may leave for any reason, and the man is left pleading for fairness. Judges hold sweeping discretion, and outcomes rarely favor fathers.
The results are devastating:
The state profits from this setup. Child-support enforcement brings in billions in fees, while social engineers quietly celebrate a system that weakens men and empowers bureaucracies. Governments lament falling marriage and birth rates but refuse to ask why men are walking away. The answer is simple: no rational man volunteers for a game rigged against him.
How did it come to this? The roots lie in deliberate social engineering. Over the past century, the marriage covenant was replaced by a state contract, and feminism provided the moral cover. Each wave of “reform” expanded government power:
This wasn’t reform -- it was re-engineering. Feminism and state expansion advanced hand in hand, weakening men and families while centralizing power. Strong, self-reliant men are difficult to control; dependent, broken men are not.
The late filmmaker Aaron Russo claimed that elites admitted to funding feminist movements to expand taxation and undermine traditional families -- ensuring children would be raised under state influence. Whether one agrees or not, the pattern is visible: men weakened, families fractured, and children molded by institutions rather than parents.
Behind the politics are real lives. The stories repeat everywhere:
The toll is visible in statistics: male suicide rates triple those of women, men make up the majority of the homeless, and countless more live quietly in despair. These men aren’t failures. They’re casualties of a system that treats them as expendable.
Why The War on Men Matters
My book isn’t about resentment -- it’s about survival. It’s a roadmap for men navigating a world that punishes masculinity yet depends on it. Inside, readers will find:
This isn’t about hating women. It’s about rejecting illusion -- the illusion that the system is fair, that marriage is safe, that men are privileged. The truth is that masculine strength -- leadership, discipline, courage -- is the foundation of civilization itself. When it’s shamed and suppressed, societies crumble.
So what can men do?
- Wake up. Understand that marriage today is a civil contract, not a sacred covenant. Enter it only with clear eyes, or not at all.
- Reclaim purpose. Masculinity is not toxic -- it is vital. The strength to build, protect, and lead is what sustains nations.
- Speak out. The war on men thrives in silence. Sharing your story defies a system built on shame and isolation.
- Choose freedom. A man who retains his independence -- financial, emotional, spiritual -- cannot be controlled.
The battle for men’s dignity is not fought in the streets but in hearts, homes, and courts. Every man who stands firm, who refuses to accept second-class status, contributes to the rebuilding of a civilization that has forgotten its foundations.
Mark Gerard Keenan is the author of The War on Men: How the New Gender Politics Is Undermining Western Civilization and Climate CO2 Hoax. A former UN technical expert, he writes on culture, law, science, and the ideological forces reshaping the West. His published books are listed on Amazon.
Image: Mark Gerard Keenan