I find myself returning often to a conversation I had with a friend some years ago, where he mentioned, almost apologetically, that he felt men's issues were being overlooked in our modern discourse about gender equality. His hesitation struck me then, and strikes me still—this peculiar shame that seems to accompany any mention of masculine vulnerability in our time. It occurs to me that we have created a curious paradox: we speak endlessly of breaking down gender stereotypes, yet we seem unable to acknowledge that men, too, might suffer under the weight of societal expectations.