Modern women are clueless about men and have no idea how relationships work. It honestly isn't their fault — the seeds of failure are planted in college, long before women say "I do."

Thursday morning, University of Virginia Sociology professor Bradford Wilcox tweeted this:



So telling. This is the picture some of my female students used in class to depict young men in relationships today, and to the knowing laughs of their female peers. Re: young men today, we’ve got a ways to go. pic.twitter.com/ZahhynRjgY — W Bradford Wilcox (@WilcoxNMP) November 7, 2018



According to Wilcox, there was plenty of cackling and agreement among his female students about the fact that men are essentially boys.

The "failure to launch" is indeed a phenomenon among males. It may actually be the most pressing issue of our time. The correct way to address it is to ask ourselves this question: How did we get here? What happened to stop little boys from growing up to be men that women want to marry?

A lot. For more than half a century, men have been repeatedly told they're the bad sex, while women have been raised to think very highly of themselves. That's still a relatively new, and a very demoralizing, way to view the sexes. As one woman commented on Wilcox's Twitter thread, "What do you expect after 60 years of feminist hagarry de-masculinizing men? Feminists created the very betas they bemoan."

Moreover, women are taught to be dismissive and resentful toward men and marriage — which is also relatively new. As 29-year-old Kelsey, whose story I wrote about here, writes:



"From the ages of 16 to 24, I was surrounded by adults and educators who force-fed a very feminist narrative, one I didn't recognize as such at the time. I never once considered marriage, family or what I would do if my chosen career path did not work out according to plan. I was raised in an environment where you were taught to 'never depend on a man,' that marriages were likely to fail, and that having kids would destroy the prospect of high-flying career."



Kelsey represents the norm: the average young woman today has been steeped in feminist ideology from a very young age. By the time she graduates from college, she's been marinating in it for years. Here are the 5 main narratives women are taught about men and relationships:



Men can't be trusted. Thus, women should have their collective guard up at all times. The sexes are essentially the same. Thus, women can, and should, have sex like a man: with no strings attached. Marriage is passe. Thus, women should avoid it as long as possible and even consider having children on their own. Smart women don't change diapers. Bowing out of the marketplace to raise one's children is not only career damaging, it’s beneath smart women to do so. Masculinity is toxic, and the average guy will rape you if you're not careful.

If I were a male, I wouldn't bother growing up either. What's the point?

If women want to find grown men they can potentially marry, they need to do three things:



Reject all five of the feminist messages above, and do it early—while you're still in college. Educate yourselves about the very real differences between women and men and don't be afraid they make one sex superior to the other. They don't. Stop all the empowerment stuff, the "I'm so strong and independent" junk that merely drives a wedge between the sexes. Men know you're powerful, and they're fine with that. But when this power gets used against them, as it so often does, that's when the problems begin.

Parents should do their part, too. Wives and mothers, who initiate the vast majority of divorce, can stay married to their boys' father if he's a good man — yes, even if they're unhappy. If women are divorced, they can share custody equally rather than keep dad away, as is all too common. Finally, both parents need to let their boys be boys. Don't squelch their masculine nature, channel it into a force for good. Women everywhere are looking for strong men, and they can't find one. It's your job to create him.

Turning boys into men isn't easy, but it must be done for families and society to survive. Rather than point the finger at this new generation of men who have failed to grow up, we must find the courage to ask ourselves what we did to allow it to happen. And what we can do to bring them back.

Suzanne Venker (@SuzanneVenker) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner 's Beltway Confidential blog. She is an author, speaker, and cultural critic known as the “Feminist Fixer.” She has authored several books to help women win with men in life and in love. Her most recent, The Alpha Female’s Guide to Men & Marriage , was published in February 2017. Her website can be found at www.suzannevenker.com.