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Tosin Oyediran, punchng.com, September 26, 2026
The World Health Organization issued new guidelines broadening contraceptive options, noting that an estimated 164 million women who want to avoid pregnancy aren't using contraception. It now supports extended or continuous use of combined pills for up to a year, implants for up to five years, and low-dose mifepristone as an additional emergency contraceptive. For men, who rely mainly on condoms, withdrawal and vasectomy, WHO released its first Target Product Profile to guide development of new methods. With some candidates in advanced trials, it estimates reversible male contraceptives could reach the market within five to 10 years.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, September 24, 20926
This September 24 CAMH piece, recapping its recent Men's Mental Health Summit, argues that the familiar "men need to talk more" message puts too much burden on the person struggling. It asks instead what needs to change around men so their distress is recognized earlier and help is easier to reach. King's College London's Sir Graham Thornicroft noted that men's distress often shows up as withdrawal, substance use, anger, risk-taking or overwork rather than as recognizable mental illness, and is shaped by masculine expectations and by life factors such as work, money and loneliness. AFSP's Dr. Christine Moutier, drawing on her own experience, called for treating suicide prevention as a public health priority backed by sustained leadership and investment rather than as an individual responsibility. Dr. Allison Crawford described how Canada's 9-8-8 crisis line, which has handled more than a million calls and texts since November 2023, operates as a learning health system that adapts its outreach and training to different groups of men. Movember Canada's Catherine Corriveau pressed attendees to turn evidence into action, pointing to Canada's first Men and Boys' Health and Well-being Strategy, which Movember is helping convene, as the chance to do so.
Patrick Bourke, American Institute for Boys and Men, September 25, 2026
In this September 25 AIBM commentary, Patrick Bourke argues that the widely cited statistic that men account for nearly 80% of U.S. suicides has become a talking point without a policy response. He notes a second pattern matters more for program design: girls and women report more distress and attempt suicide more often, while men die more often, largely because they use more lethal means. Because men express distress less, disclose later and often never reach a provider, services built around people who seek help won't reach them. Bourke presents Maryland as a model. Gov. Wes Moore has used proclamations and a STAT News op-ed to create "permission space" for state agencies, which have taken 988 outreach to sporting events and video games and partnered with Movember on a guide for families and mentors supporting young men. Bourke stresses making the focus durable. Maryland's 2026–2028 suicide prevention plan names men and boys as a priority population, and a federal Garrett Lee Smith grant commits the state to gender-informed work with reporting requirements. He also frames upstream regulation as prevention, citing cease-and-desist orders against prediction markets such as Kalshi (given links between problem gambling and suicide) and the Maryland Kids Code for online safety. His advice to other states: start with the governor's voice, meet men where they are, write the focus into permanent plans and grants, and treat regulation as prevention. He discloses that he advises Maryland's Governor's Office for Children and sits on its suicide prevention commission.
Joshua Bay, Inside Higher Education, September 25, 2026
This Inside Higher Ed piece covers the Symposium on Young American Men, held in Washington on September 24. It notes that women have long outnumbered men on campus, roughly 60 to 40, and that young men are also less likely to earn any degree. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said there's no simple explanation, pointing to doubts about the economic return on some degrees and men's greater interest in apprenticeships, and urged colleges to rethink their value proposition. A new Cygnal survey released at the event found that 55% of men aged 18 to 30 feel their lives are on track, and 63% want the federal government to do more for young men, with inflation and housing as top concerns. On a panel, Sen. Bill Cassidy called for matching students to college or technical paths, recognizing gender gaps, and focusing on retaining men once enrolled, citing his bipartisan College Transparency Act with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Curtis Valentine of the Male Educator Network stressed the importance of male mentors and floated free tuition for men pursuing teaching or coaching. Judson Horras of the North American Interfraternity Conference said fraternity members are among the most likely to persist to graduation and called for incentives for adult men to mentor middle and high school boys. Panelists also flagged rising loneliness among male students and the appeal of earn-while-you-learn models.
Michael Kimmel, Time, August 15, 2026
In this August 15 TIME essay, sociologist Michael Kimmel argues that the manosphere's embrace of carnivore diets, lifting culture and cheap ground-beef "boy kibble" reflects an identity crisis among young and working-class men. As traditional markers of secure manhood (a good job, homeownership, fatherhood) feel out of reach, their bodies seem like one of the few forms of capital they still control. He traces the pattern back 140 years. Around 1900, economic upheaval, immigration and women entering the workforce produced similar anxieties, which gave rise to red-meat evangelism, the YMCA, dude ranches, fraternal orders, the Boy Scouts, Theodore Roosevelt's "strenuous life," and early influencers like bodybuilder Bernarr MacFadden. Kimmel sees today's figures, including the Liver King, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan and Myron Gaines, as reviving that script. They offer nostalgic myths of stoic, dominant men and promote all-meat regimens, along with debunked claims that soy feminizes men. He notes the practical costs: ground beef has risen from about $3.55 to $6.75 a pound, men's labor force participation is falling, and extreme meat eating combined with compulsive bodybuilding and looksmaxxing poses real health risks. His conclusion is that no generation has been able to eat its way to manhood, which comes instead from the moral and emotional strength to serve one's family, community and nation.
Ed Dean, Florida Daily, September 24, 2026
This Florida Daily piece by Ed Dean notes that Democratic Socialist candidates are faring better in 2026 than in 2020, driven mostly by young supporters, while young men are simultaneously moving in two directions: toward church and toward socialism. It cites a Gallup finding that the share of young men calling religion very important rose from 28% to 42% in two years (young women held at 29%), a Cato poll showing Gen Z at 53% favorable toward socialism versus 45% for capitalism, and a CBS/YouGov survey in which only 9% of under-30s view capitalism very positively. The article's framing comes from Joël Malm, a teaching pastor and founder of Summit Leaders, who argues these trends are usually reported as opposites but share a root: a generation that feels the plan it was handed hasn't worked is searching for meaning, and church and political movements are currently the two most prominent answers.
Zoe Robotin, Buzz Feed, September 24, 2026
The article, a BuzzFeed-style roundup of Reddit comments, gathers men's accounts of struggles they say go unacknowledged. The lead confession is that men feel they aren't allowed to have problems at all: when they raise them, the reply is ridicule, minimization, denial or being treated as the villain. Other entries describe being viewed with suspicion around children, including a retiree whose wish to become a crossing guard was met with a coworker asking why he wanted to be near kids. Further items cover schools contacting an emergency contact before the father who is the primary parent contact, and being seen as a threat by default, for example when walking behind someone at night. One commenter noted the reverse happens to his wife with finances, where lenders and insurers route everything through him. Overall, the piece paints a picture of men feeling presumed dangerous or incompetent and discouraged from voicing emotional difficulty.
Kelley Butler, Medscape, September 24, 2026
A study in the International Journal of Clinical Practice by urologists in Hangzhou, China, found that workplace stress is strongly linked to erectile dysfunction in young men. Researchers built a workplace-specific stress index covering working hours, promotion pressure, decision-making autonomy, supervisor support and colleague relationships, and applied it to more than 800 men aged 22 to 40. Erectile function was measured with the IIEF-5, alongside morning and evening cortisol, testosterone and other hormones. After adjusting for age, BMI, smoking and alcohol, men in the highest-stress group had more than ten times the odds of ED compared with the lowest-stress group. Long working hours were the strongest factor, with each additional 10 hours per week tied to a 1.82-point drop in erectile function scores, while supervisor support appeared protective. University of Chicago urologist Dr. Denise Asafu-Adjei, who was not involved, called the size of the association striking.
Rachel Sacks, Yahoo, September 21, 2026
This New York Post story, syndicated on Yahoo Health, reports that "looksmaxxing" influencer Clavicular (Braden Peters, 20) described on Howie Mandel's podcast a "shopping bag hang" method for penis enlargement, in which he hangs a bag of books or weights from the shaft, claiming it stretches the suspensory ligament and can add about an inch. He had promoted the same technique earlier on Logan Paul's podcast, while conceding it lowers the erection angle. Urologist Dr. Rajesh Patel warns there's no strong evidence for the method and that, unlike medical traction devices that apply controlled tension, DIY weights can cause bruising, nerve and blood-vessel injury, loss of sensation, scarring, curvature resembling Peyronie's disease, and erectile dysfunction, and can even make the penis less stable by damaging the ligament. He also worries about influencers amplifying size anxiety among young men, and advises anyone concerned to see a urologist rather than experiment.
Maia Spoto and David Ovalle, New York Times, September 22, 2026
"Looksmaxxing" influencer Clavicular (Braden Peters, 20) faces an October 14 arraignment in Orleans District Court on Cape Cod on charges of rape, drugging for sex and serving liquor to a minor, filed September 8. According to the police report, a 17-year-old girl told investigators that in May 2025, at his family's Chatham home, Peters served her alcohol during a livestream, told her to say on camera that she was 18, and had sex with her several times after the stream ended. An investigator concluded she lacked the ability to consent. Her April civil suit in Miami makes similar allegations and says Peters had paid her to make looksmaxxing videos. It also alleges that his mother and grandmother were in the house and that his mother knew excessive alcohol was being served, and that Peters injected her face with a fat-dissolving drug on a livestream. Peters's lawyer says he is innocent, and his spokesman says he has not been arrested. His lawyers are seeking to dismiss parts of the civil suit, noting the sexual assault claims were added three months after it was filed. Peters has mocked the girl on X, calling the lawsuit a bid for his attention. The article also recounts his other legal troubles this year: dropped charges in Arizona for a fake ID and drugs, and in Florida for allegedly arranging a fight between two women, plus six months' probation after a no-contest plea in a livestreamed alligator-shooting case.
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