The things that Peterson advocates for as solutions are in truth, the source of most of the problems that men face.
Patriarchy teaches men that they need to stand alone, be tough, be in control, never show vulnerability... these are the things that are driving male loneliness, substance abuse, and suicide.
https://medium.com/remaking-manhood/why-do-we-murder-the-beautiful-friendships-of-boys-3ad722942755
"And there you have it. What Niobe Way illuminates in her book is nothing less than the central source of our culture’s epidemic of male loneliness. Driven by our collective assumption that the friendships of boys are both casual and interchangeable, along with our relentless privileging of romantic love over platonic love, we are driving boys into lives Professor Way describes as “autonomous, emotionally stoic, and isolated.” What’s more, the traumatic loss of connection among boys is directly linked to our struggles as men in every aspect of our lives.
Professor Way’s research shows us that in early adolescence, boys express deeply fulfilling emotional connection and love for each other, but by the time they reach adulthood, that sense of connection evaporates. This is a catastrophic loss — one that we assume men will simply adjust to. They do not. Millions of men are experiencing a sense of deep loss that haunts them even if they are engaged in fully realized romantic relationships, marriages, and families.
[Boys] became more distrustful and less willing to be close with their male peers and believe that such behavior, and even their emotional acuity, put them at risk of being labeled girly, immature, or gay. Thus, rather than focusing on who they are, they became obsessed with who they are not — they are not girls and not children, nor, in the case of heterosexual boys, are they gay. In response to a cultural context that links intimacy in male friendships and emotional sensitivity with a sex [female] and a sexuality [gay], the boys “matured” into men who are autonomous, emotionally stoic, and isolated. The ages of 16 to 19, however, are not only a period of disconnection for the boys in my studies, it is also the period in which the suicide rate for boys in the United States rises dramatically and becomes four times the rate for girls." (emphasis mine)
In the 1950s people lived near their extended family, they went to church, they worked at the same place their entire lives, and they didn't spend all day on their phones. We can't change those dynamics, but we can change the way that men are allowed to relate to each other - which is now quite restrictive and problematic. The APA not long ago issued new guidelines to try to help address that - based on 40 years of research about how the Man Box is harming so many men. Peterson was apoplectic about them. He's part of the problem - he's not the solution.
