One of the most pernicious and destructive cultural trends in the United States over the past 30 years or so has been the demonization of men and masculinity.

This has taken many forms. Take, for example, the medicalization of boyish behavior in schools, which resulted in widespread diagnoses of "attention deficit disorder" and "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," and overprescribing of drugs like Ritalin. Saner voices who insisted that boys simply needed more physical activity throughout the day and could not be expected to sit quietly for hours like girls were sidelined or ignored for years.

Less visibly destructive but just as insidious is the portrayal of fathers in entertainment media. They are rarely shown as present, loving and intelligent protectors of their wives and children, and more often as absent deadbeats, comic buffoons or abusers.

Predominantly male activities and institutions like sports and the military have been relentlessly attacked as well.

When the Duke lacrosse team was falsely accused of gang rape in 2006, members of the Duke faculty presumed they were guilty and saw the accusation as a prime opportunity to denounce "whiteness" in sports and "rape culture" on campuses. The young men were eventually exonerated and their accuser later admitted that she had lied. But the damage was done.

Interestingly, the laissez-faire attitudes about sex and sexuality that feminists and other social activists have promoted as "liberating" since the late 1960s eventually became a weapon to use against men.

The "Dear Colleague" letter issued by former President Barack Obama's Department of Education in 2011 was purportedly crafted to crack down on sexual assault on college campuses. But compliance with the letter's requirements effectively deprived young men accused of sexual assault of any due process, resulting in more than 500 lawsuits brought against colleges and........

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