“The Mask You Live In” by The Representation Project explains how the way we have constructed the idea of masculinity in the United States doesn’t give young boys a way to feel secure in their masculinity, so instead, they are forced to go out and prove it.Consequently, as young boys enter into adulthood, they end up missing out on what they actually want: closeness.

Who is the "we" in the "we have constructed"? American society?

Yes, I think that's what they mean.

So modern American society is responsible for a view of human masculinity which predates Humans, but not the systematic destruction of male institutions by anti-masculine political extremists? riiiiight.

Actually the systematic destruction of institutions isn't addressed in that article.

No, it's not... that's my point.  When you take away normal and traditional mechanisms for boys to learn from good examples of masculinity within a male-only structure: teams, clubs, schools, fraternities, etc. you end up with a whole generation of lost souls, particularly when society has also weakened and broken family bonds.   Having bastions of male gender-exclusivity is vital for healthy moral and emotional development for boys, but are sued into oblivion everywhere they exist.

Tyler Durden!