Tracing the historical forces that weakened men, generation by generation.
“Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man.”
— 1 Kings 2:2
If God’s plan for men was strength, purpose, courage, and identity, then we have to ask:
Who interfered with that design? And How?
Because the crisis we see today, passive men, violent men, absent fathers, confused identities did not appear from nowhere.
Weak men were not born.
They were manufactured.
Across centuries.
Across systems.
Across empires.
This is a sober look at how slavery, war, apartheid, and modern culture reshaped male identity long before today’s men ever had a chance.
Because the roots of this crisis are historical, buried in systems that reshaped men long before they could choose who to become.
The First Wound: When Men Stopped Belonging to Themselves
Slavery. Colonialism. Industrialisation. Apartheid.
But let’s make it personal.
This wasn’t “history” in the abstract. It happened in communities, households, marriages, in the minds of men, and in the hearts of children.
Under apartheid, men were pushed into becoming migrant workers, not because they wanted to leave home, but because the need to “man up” and provide was twisted into a weapon used against them.
To be a provider, they had to abandon the very families they were trying to provide for.
They lived in hostels, earning almost nothing, returning home once a year.
Once.
A.
Year.
What kind of bond survives that?
How does a father hold authority when he is a stranger in his own home?
How does a child trust a man he barely sees?
Families didn’t just weaken. Families fractured.
And when fathers did return, some walked into devastation:
wives pregnant or giving birth to coloured children, curly-haired, light-skinned, blue-eyed. Evidence of exploitation by white employers.
This wasn’t accidental.
It was psychological warfare against the Black family.
Meanwhile, women became maids and cleaners, leaving home before sunrise and returning long after dark. They raised someone else’s children while their own raised themselves.
The family bond was not weak by mistake.
It was weakened by design.
Men, women, and children lived under constant humiliation — subdued, controlled, punished for resisting.
Silence became survival.
And silence, generation after generation, became the emotional template young boys, who would later become men, inherited.
When a man cannot protect, provide, or decide, he collapses internally.
Dignity began to erode.
Generations grew up watching men beaten into silence.
Trauma like that does not disappear. Trauma like that mutates.
Systems That Replaced Fathers. Systems that Trained Boys to Obey, Not Lead
With the collapse of the family structure, a second weapon was deployed. The schooling systems, colonial classrooms, missionary institutions, apartheid-era policies.
These systems were built to produce:
- obedience, not leadership.
- silence, not curiosity.
- memorisation, not critical thought.
- fear, not confidence.
And most damaging of all – an inferior education designed to cap the intelligence and ambition of young boys long before they became men.
These institutions told boys:
“Don’t question.
Don’t lead.
Don’t resist.
Don’t feel.”
Boys learned to shrink, submit, stay small.
They became compliant workers, not courageous men.
When Boys Filled the Gaps Fathers Were Forced to Leave
Because it is in a man’s nature to provide, boys growing up in these broken systems tried to fill the void their fathers were forced to leave behind.
But when education was limited,
when opportunities were blocked,
when mothers and siblings were drowning…crime became the only open door.
Not because boys were “born bad,” but because legal opportunity was deliberately withheld.
So the pattern formed:
A boy steals to help his family.
He is arrested.
He enters prison young.
He fathers children with no stability to offer.
He returns to crime.
Back to prison.
Another home without a father.
Another generation raising itself.
This wasn’t personal failure.
It was a systemic trap designed to keep men absent, boys lost, women exhausted, and families broken.
Every cycle deepened the wound.
Is it any wonder we now have exhausted men, weakened before they ever had a chance to stand?
The War Machine — Hitler, Fascism, and Broken Male Psyches
War trained men to:
- kill
- suppress emotion
- obey blindly
- disconnect from humanity
Then it sent them home traumatised, numb, emotionally absent.
Millions died.
Millions more survived but never returned internally.
Fatherlessness became generational.
And that wound travelled across continents, into every society touched by global conflict.
Apartheid: Engineering Powerlessness into Entire Families
Apartheid further forced men to:
- leave home for migrant labour
- live in hostels
- submit to racist policing
- endure public humiliation
This created:
- emotionally absent fathers
- unsupported mothers
- boys raised without male guidance
- men who internalised silence as survival
Weakness became cultural because resistance could cost your life.
The Collapse of Male Identity in the Modern Era
After centuries of being:
- controlled
- displaced
- humiliated
- punished for leadership
- separated from family
men eventually lost the internal blueprint of manhood.
This gave birth to:
1. Passive men. The “freeze” response
Generational fear.
2. Violent men. The “fight” response
Those denied power often abuse it when they finally taste it.
3. Gender violence and hyper-sexuality
When identity is fractured, masculinity distorts.
4. Identity confusion (sexual, emotional, spiritual)
Men who are never taught who they are eventually search for identity anywhere.
This is not excuse-making.
This is connecting the dots.
The Spiritual Wound: When Men Lost Their Calling
Historically, men were designed to:
- protect
- provide
- lead with love
- build legacies
- anchor families in faith
When systems stripped men of these roles, they became spiritually displaced.
Without calling, men drift.
Without purpose, men regress.
Without identity, men collapse.
The Circle We’re Living In Today
Everything we see today, violence, abandonment, passivity, emotional collapse…
None of it appeared suddenly.
It was inherited.
Reinforced.
Normalised.
Understanding the origin gives men, and society a chance to break the cycle.
A Closing Thought
We fix nothing by blaming.
We fix everything by understanding.
This is not about condemning men.
It’s about exposing the forces that deformed them.
Because the next blog —
“How Do We Fix It?” —
will offer the roadmap back.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”
If you’d like to share your thoughts, you’re welcome to reach me directly at books@eugenemarillier.com
My contact page is temporarily down, but I’m still very much available on email.
With love always,
Eugene Marillier 🕊️🌿
