They say feminism is about equality, but what happens when that equality leaves the boy child behind?

In a world obsessed with empowering girls (rightfully so), a deafening silence grows around boys. Boys who are struggling, breaking, and begging to be seen. It’s time to ask: Is the boy child the new victim of feminism?

In the pursuit of equality, we’ve created a movement that uplifts girls—and rightly so. But in the same breath, we’ve created a silence around boys—a silence so loud it’s deafening. A silence that is slowly raising a generation of emotionally starved, misunderstood, and invisible men

“Have we left the boy child behind in our quest for gender balance?”

Let’s be honest: advocating for the girl child is easier. Her wounds are visible. Her voice, though often silenced, comes with collective sympathy. Her pain fits the narrative.

But the boy child? He’s the one we assume is fine.

After all, isn’t he the ‘privileged’ one?

But what we call privilege has become a prison. He is told to be a man before he even becomes a boy. Expected to suppress, provide, protect, and power through pain. He is the child we ask to carry others, while no one checks if his legs are breaking.

And now, he’s breaking. Quietly.

The Hidden Crisis

Statistics tell a worrying story.

• According to UNESCO, boys drop out of school at higher rates than girls globally, and academic achievement gaps are widening in favor of girls.

• Mental health experts warn of a surge in depression, anxiety, and suicide among boys and young men.

• In many cultures, emotional expression in boys is still viewed as weakness, pushing them into silence.

Emotional intelligence is applauded in girls but mocked in boys. Helplines exist, but many boys don’t feel safe dialing them. And at the gender equality table, he’s barely invited—or worse, blamed.

This growing crisis begs an uncomfortable question:

Has feminism unintentionally created a gender imbalance by focusing almost exclusively on female empowerment while neglecting the boy child?

This is Not Anti-Feminism

Let’s be clear: this is not about undermining feminism.

It’s about widening the lens.

True gender equality means acknowledging the struggles faced by all children, regardless of gender.

Let’s not confuse attention with empowerment. Because what the boy child often gets is scrutiny, not support. Discipline, not direction. Indifference, not intention.

“You cannot teach a boy to respect women if he’s never been taught to respect himself.”
“You cannot raise whole men in a culture that amputates their emotions.”

If feminism fails to recognize the boy child’s unique challenges, it risks becoming a movement that perpetuates a new kind of inequality.

The Questions We Must Ask

How do you build a balanced world with broken boys?
How do you heal society when half of its future is emotionally constipated and starved of love, empathy, and permission to be human?

On this International Boy Child Day, let us ask ourselves the hard questions:

• Are we listening to our boys, or just expecting them to “get it right”?

• Are we raising emotionally literate sons, or just future providers?

• Are we building safe spaces for their feelings, or dismissing them as weakness?

• Are we seeing them at all?

The boy child is not okay. And until we admit that, we will keep raising men who are praised for their strength but punished for their softness.

Let’s not wait until their silence becomes their coffin.

Let’s see them. Let’s fight for them too.

Equality is not about who shouts louder. It’s about who we’re failing to hear.
And right now, the boy child is whispering for help.