Squires: The decades-long assault on men and fathers has taken us from patriarchy to 'theytriarchy'

This Father’s Day, in addition to whatever gifts a man may receive from his children, every dad should be given a watch with a simple inscription on the back: “Know what time it is.”

The nation’s first Father’s Day was celebrated in 1910. We live in a completely different country now. People wait longer to get married, and divorce is common. Delays in marriage, ubiquitous contraception, and legalized abortion have led to decreased fertility rates and smaller families.

Advances in technology have made it possible to access information in seconds. This means that both knowledge and propaganda are only one click away. An expectant dad in 1993 might have received a Father’s Day card from his wife with the message, “Can’t wait for you to hold your son.” But today, CNN would have us believe that a real “man” carries the baby.

There has been a 60-year assault on men, masculinity, and marriage that took us from patriarchy to matriarchy to “theytriarchy.”

In less than a decade, nearly every media outlet, corporation, professional sports league, medical organization, and political institution has bought into the notion that the sex binary is as oppressive as the color line. We went from a woman in the 1980s saying “I don’t need a man” to her daughter in the 2000s saying “I don’t want a man” to her grandson today saying “I don’t want to be a man.”

This full-out assault on reality is the reason fathers today need to be attuned to the forces of evil trying to infiltrate their homes. Sometimes it comes through Nick Jr. or Disney programming. At other times it is being pushed by school administrators and teachers. Everyone who has left their homes this month has been bombarded with “Pride” merchandise in every store they’ve entered.

They have also heard that the current president thinks our children belong to him and his comrades. Given his own family dynamics and penchant for making children uncomfortable, I’d say every father who is not paying attention to what’s going on in the culture needs to wake up.

Paul Ryan, the former Republican speaker of the House, recently stated he’s not a “culture war guy,” apparently because opposing puberty blockers and genital surgeries for confused teens is “divisive.”

This is exactly the type of cowardice that has allowed the moral rot in our culture to spread so far and so quickly. Progressives have no problem turning people with kinks and fetishes into protected identity groups because they know that conservatives would much rather talk about marginal tax rates than fight for the biblical values they claim to hold.

This is why it is up to dads to protect their families and bring a measure of sanity back to the country. Men have spent decades being demonized by politicians, academics, activists, and corporations for being “toxic” patriarchs who want to oppress women.

What we now see is that “theytriarchy” is far more dangerous for women and children than a society characterized by male leadership. In nature, weakness is always met with aggression. Efforts to demonize masculinity have not eliminated male leadership; they just changed the dominant males from providers who protect their families to predators who prey on the weak and defenseless.

This dynamic does not bode well for the future of the country. A nation that is confused about the building blocks of human biology is ripe for conquering. What we need today more than ever are fathers who love God and His design for the human body, marriage, and the family.

Affirming the reality of sex, whether you base your position on Genesis or genetics, is the most important act of cultural resistance a man can engage in today. It is the antidote to Pride because it acknowledges a power higher than the man himself. Doing so will require clear vision, a refusal to lie, nerves of steel, and a multigenerational mindset.

Moral neutrality is not an option. The Pride flags that have become ubiquitous in our culture are a clear signal that someone’s values will always be imposed on the public square. We can fight for our own or continue on the path of silence and cowardice.

Fathers have been knocked around in popular culture, but like any good prizefighter, we need to keep getting back up again. Our families – and future – depend on it.