It’s ironic, but independence isn’t something you can learn all by yourself. Boys need tolerant, empathetic adults in their lives in order to become self-reliant. They need to know that we care about and value them, even when we don’t agree with their desires and decisions.

Source: The “manning up of boys begins in the cradle.” But what boys really need is emotional support from their dads

I’m not sure how our current tropes started, but we owe it to our children to do better.