To truly understand the current phenomena of the Nice Guy Syndrome, we have to take into account a series of significant social changes that began around the turn of the century and accelerated following World War II. These social dynamics included:
l The transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy.
l The movement of families from rural areas to urban areas.
l The absence of fathers from the home.
l The increase in divorce, single parent homes, and homes headed by women.
l An educational system dominated by women.
l Women's liberation and feminism.
l The Vietnam War.
l The sexual revolution.
These events combined to have a major impact on American boys growing up in this era. These social
changes created three profound dynamics that contributed to the wide spread phenomena of the Nice Guy Syndrome in the baby boom generation.
1) Boys were separated from their fathers and other significant male role models. As a result, men
became disconnected from other men in general and confused as to what it meant to be male.
2) Boys were left to be raised by women. The job of turning boys into men was left to mothers and a
school system dominated by women. As a result, men became comfortable being defined by women and became dependent on the approval of women.
3) Radical feminism implied that men were bad and/or unnecessary. The messages of radical
feminism furthered the belief of many men that if they wanted to be loved and get their needs met, they had to become what they believed women wanted them to be. For many men, this meant trying to hide any traits that might cause them to be labeled as "bad" men.
20th Century History 101
The following is a brief overview of how some of the dynamic social changes of the last half of the 20th century helped create the bumper crop of Nice Guys in our culture.The Loss Of Fathers
The shift to a manufacturing society and an urban migration in the post-war years took fathers away
from their sons in droves. According to the US census, in 1910 one-third of all families lived on farms.
By 1940, this number had shrunk to one in five. By 1970, 96 percent of all families lived in urban areas.
In an agrarian society, boys connected with their fathers by working alongside them in the fields. This
often meant contact with extended family that included grandfathers, uncles, and cousins. This daily
contact with men provided boys with an intimate model of maleness. Sons learned about being male by watching their dads, just as their own fathers had learned by watching their fathers. As families migrated from rural areas to cities and suburbs after World War II, the contact between fathers and sons diminished significantly. Dads left home in the morning and went to work. Most sons never got to see what their fathers did, let alone have much time to spend with them.
Fathers became unavailable in other ways. Men's addictions to work, TV, alcohol, and sex took them
away from their sons. Increases in divorce began to separate boys from their fathers. Census statistics show that the incidence of divorce among men tripled from 1940 to 1970. In 1940, just over five million households were headed by women. By 1970, this figure had almost tripled to over 13 million households.
In general, the Nice Guys I have worked with do not report having had a close, bonded
relationship with their fathers in childhood. Sometimes this was a result of their fathers working long
hours, being withdrawn, or being passive. More often than not, Nice Guys describe their fathers in
negative terms. They often see them as controlling, rageful, angry, absent, abusive, unavailable,
addictive, or philandering. It is not unusual at some point in childhood for Nice Guys to have made
a conscious decision to be different from their fathers.
The unavailability of dads during this era often required mothers to take over the job of the fathers.
Women inherited the defacto job of turning boys into men. Unfortunately even the most well-meaning mothers are not equipped to teach their sons how to be men by themselves. This hasn't kept them from trying.
I believe the significant number of Nice Guys produced in the '40s, '50s, and '60s is the direct
result of mothers, not fathers, teaching their sons how to be male. Consequently, many Nice Guys
have adopted a female perspective of masculinity and are comfortable having their manhood
defined by women.
The Female Dominated Educational System
The modern educational system has also contributed to the dynamic of boys being raised by women.
Since World War II, boys have entered schools dominated by females. For most boys, the first several
years in school become basic training in how to please women. From kindergarten through sixth grade, I had only one male teacher and six females. This is pretty consistent with national norms.
Men account for just one in four teachers nationwide. In the primary grades, they make up only 15% of the teaching staff, and that number is steadily dropping. From daycare to preschool to elementary
school, little boys in the post-war era have been surrounded by women. There have been few adult males to help them through this experience. If a little boy was already disconnected from his father and trained to please a woman, the typical school system magnified this conditioning.
The Vietnam War
In the '60s, the Vietnam War crystallized the feeling of alienation between many baby boom boys and their fathers. Battle lines were drawn between young men protesting a war started and perpetuated by their fathers. A generation of World War II veterans could not understand the flaunting of responsibility and the social rebellion of their sons. The young men of this generation became the antithesis of their fathers and of an establishment that solved domestic and international problems with guns and bombs. The anti-war movement created a new breed of males focused on love, peace, and avoiding conflict.
Women's Liberation
During this same period of time, many women were beginning to work outside of the home, birth
control provided new freedom, and women's liberation was in its infancy. Some mothers during the
Baby Boom era could foresee a change in gender roles on the horizon. They worked to prepare their
sons and daughters for what was to come. Many of these mothers raised their daughters to not need a man. At the same time, they trained their sons to be different from their fathers — peaceful, giving,
nurturing, and attentive to a woman's needs.Radical feminism in the '60s and '70s projected an angry generalization about men. Some feminists claimed that men were the cause all of the problems in the world. Others asserted that men were merely an unnecessary nuisance. More than likely, the majority of women during this era did not feel this way about men. Nevertheless, enough angry women were significantly vocal to contribute to a social climate that convinced many men that it was not OK to be just who they were.
Epitaphs like "men are pigs" and "all men are rapists" were prominent during this time. Less angry
slogans of feminism asserted that "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." Men who were
already conditioned to look to women for definition and approval were especially susceptible to these kinds of messages. This added incentive for these men to try to figure out what women wanted and try to become that in order to be loved and get their needs met.
Soft Males And Boy-Men
Robert Bly, the author of Iron John, writes about how the social changes of the Baby Boom era created a new breed of American men. Bly calls these men "soft males."
He writes, "they're lovely, valuable people — I like them — they're not interested in harming the earth or starting wars. There's a gentle attitude toward life in their whole being and style of living. But many of these men are not happy. You quickly notice the lack of energy in them. They are life-preserving but not exactly life-giving. Ironically, you often see these men with strong women who positively radiate energy. Here we have a finely-tuned young man, ecologically superior to his father, sympathetic to the whole harmony of the universe, yet he himself has little vitality to offer."
From a different perspective, Camille Paglia comments on how the social changes of the last five
decades have changed roles of men and women. "The hard-driving woman has to switch personae when she gets home. She's got to throttle back, or she'll castrate everything in the domestic niche. Many white, middle-class women have dodged this dilemma by finding themselves a nice, malleable boy-man who becomes another son in the subliminally matriarchal household." ("Politically Incorrect Desires," Salon: Issue 49)
Regardless of whether we call these men "soft males," "sensitive new age guys," or "Nice Guys," the
unique combination of social events in the post-World War II era reinforced and magnified the messages that many little boys had already received from their families — that they weren't OK just as they were.
These social events further amplified the belief that if they wanted to be loved, get their needs met, and have a smooth life, they had to hide their flaws and become what others (especially women) wanted them to be.
My observation in recent years points to the reality that the conditioning described above did not end with the Baby-Boom generation. I am seeing more and more young men in their twenties, and even teens, who demonstrate all of the characteristics of the Nice Guy Syndrome. Not only have these young men been effected by all of the social dynamics listed above, even more grew up in single parent families or were raised by Nice Guy fathers. As I write this, I expect that we are just beginning on our third generation of Nice Guys.
The Habits Of Highly Ineffective Men
As a result of the family and social conditioning described above, Nice Guys struggle to get what they
want in love and life. Due to their shame and ineffective survival mechanisms, the road map they follow just won't take them where they want to go. This is frustrating. But rather than trying something different, their life paradigm requires that they keep trying harder, doing more of the same. I frequently tell Nice Guys, "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always had." To reiterate what I've illustrated before, Nice Guys prevent themselves from getting what they want in love and life by:
l Seeking the approval of others.
l Trying to hide their perceived flaws and mistakes.
l Putting other people's needs and wants before their own.
l Sacrificing their personal power and playing the role of a victim.
l Disassociating themselves from other men and their own masculine energy.
l Co-creating relationships that are less than satisfying.
l Creating situations in which they do not have very much good sex.
l Failing to live up their full potential.
The next seven chapters present a proven plan to show recovering Nice Guys the most effective ways to do something different. Read on. It is time for you to start getting what you want in love and life
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”