Host of the "The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast" and daughter of Jordan Peterson, Mikhaila Peterson, joined "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Saturday morning to share the factors contributing to the decline in men participating in the workforce. Peterson stressed that the media's portrayal of men, and the relationship between men and women play a role in the decline.
According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, over 7 million men, ages 25 to 54, have left the workforce in 2022.
"I think there's a number of reasons," she said. "I think the increase in mental illness plays a role. So 50% of people will be diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lifetime, and that's going to contribute to men dropping out of the workforce."
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Peterson continued to share her thoughts on other contributing factors, blaming the media's portrayal of men and how the negative views of masculinity affect men's confidence and their relationship to women.
"The other things that could possibly contribute would be the media portrayal of men for the last 20 years," she noted. "They show men as these bumbling fools, and that's got to be hard on men's confidence generationally. And then I think one thing that people don't talk about at all is the birth control pill, and I think that's majorly impacting relationships between men and women negatively."
She continued to share why, stating, "women choose more feminine men when they're on the pill. And for some reason, people aren't talking about that. That's crazy. That could impact people generationally easily."
Hegseth asked Peterson if the increase in women in the workforce played a role in men dropping out.
Responding to his question Peterson replied, "I don't actually think the issue is women in the workforce." She added, "I think it's more likely that birth control is playing a role and impacting the relationships between men and women negatively."
Following up, she explained how the feminine portrayal of masculinity plays a role in the relationship, and how it affects men's confidence.
"I mean, in order to have children, women need to feel comfortable and safe with a masculine man," she said. "Otherwise, why are they going to want to have kids? And so we have women on birth control choosing feminine men and then not wanting to have children. And this is in the literature. This isn't a conspiracy theory. You can look in the scientific papers. So I think that plays a major role."
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Peterson concluded by saying how men are avoiding toxic masculinity and leaving jobs based on the traditional view of masculinity.
"The fact that masculinity is now seen as toxic means that the people that women are attracted to, masculine men are seen as toxic," she said. "And that's just confusing everyone. It's confusing men because they don't want to be masculine because they don't think that's what women like. And then it's confusing women because they don't have anyone to be attracted to. It's a disaster."
