Women have made incredible strides over the last few decades; in education, in leadership, in financial independence. And they should because that progress matters. As a father to a five-year-old daughter, I want nothing more than for her to thrive. If she grows up to be a CEO one day, I’ll be the proudest man alive. So don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about pushing women back. It’s about making sure we’re not leaving our boys behind.

Right now, we’re watching women rise and that’s a beautiful thing. But it’s also revealing a gap. Many young men are struggling, they can’t keep up. They’re falling behind in school, unsure how to connect in relationships, withdrawing socially, and drifting without a clear sense of direction. No one’s preparing them for a world that expects more emotional depth, more adaptability, and more maturity than the one their fathers grew up in. We never really taught them how to grow into modern manhood, how to build themselves up when the old rules stopped working and now, many are stuck.

This pressure doesn’t disappear when boys become men. In fact, it gets worse. We now have a
growing number of households where women earn more than their male partners and while that
shouldn’t be a problem, in reality, it’s crushing many men. Society still expects men to be providers: to pay the bills, the school fees, the medical costs, to “look after the lady.” But they’re doing this while earning less, while feeling less in control and it’s driving many into quiet depression. They’re not just losing income; they’re losing identity.

That gap is part of why someone like Godfrey Kuteesa is so popular. He didn’t come out of
nowhere. His rise is a reaction, a response to a generation of young men who feel ignored and
frustrated. And while some find his message controversial and don’t agree with it, we should ask
why so many guys are listening in the first place.

Some extreme feminists say romantic relationships don’t matter as long as a woman is successful and independent. But most people would agree that the most meaningful parts of life often come from connection: building a family, raising children, growing with a partner. That’s not weakness. That’s what gives many people a sense of legacy, of belonging. We’re social creatures. We don’t thrive in isolation.

And here’s the part no one wants to say out loud: women are less attracted to men who don’t have their life together; men who lack emotional and economic stability. That’s not judgment, it’s reality. Women want partners, not people they have to carry. And that’s fair. If we want our daughters to find strong, kind, capable men, then we need to raise our sons to become them. Because a country cannot thrive on empowered women alone. We need strong men too not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

This isn’t a battle of the sexes. It’s a plea for balance. We can champion women and still
recognize that our boys are falling and they need us to care enough to lift them too.