In “Meditations: Book X:16,” the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote: “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”

For several decades now, our culture has served as a battleground over the meaning of manhood. Some attack males for displaying “toxic masculinity,” or advocate that men become more like women, expressing their feelings or shedding tears more openly. An old adage of mockery, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” is only one of many comments where men are the butt of chauvinistic jokes. TV ads have long featured husbands too stupid to change a lightbulb, and dumb dad movies and television shows go back 30 years or more.

Countering these detractors are writers who expend a good bit of time and effort touting the strengths and virtues that make u

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