“It’s hard to talk about ‘men’ as one homogenous mass,” says Samuels. “There are so many different versions of masculinity now. Some men are happy to emote, others will still run a mile from saying anything vulnerable. I was in the rust belt in America recently talking to blue-collar guys who’ve been ravaged by the collapse of industries and the spread of opioids, where there’s still a real sense of traditional masculinity in the air, even if it’s turned desperate and toxic. Just 30 miles away in the cities it’s all yoga and trans rights.

“So there’s no one size fits all. But I sense there is a general move towards men being more expressive and able to say and do things that would have been alien to their fathers and grandfathers.” That’s an expectation and responsibility, but also an opportunity – if we’re prepared to take it.

Women’s childcare hours have also gone up, from 54 minutes a day in 1965 to 104 today. Despite making up at least 40 percent of the workforce in 80 countries, according to the Pew Research Center, they’re still doing more than their fair share of family stuff – this despite some men having time on their hands.

The New York Times reported in 2010 that 82 percent of the layoffs triggered by the economic downturn were men, who were over-represented in hard-hit industries such as construction. But while women who became unemployed doubled the amount of childcare they clocked up, unemployed men barely increased theirs; instead, they prioritized looking for new jobs, plus slept and watched TV more.

Men in wealthy western countries now spend an average of 59 minutes a day engaged in childcare activities, up from 16 minutes in 1965

Can We Move On?

Old core directives die hard: in a survey of 1,000 UK men by website The Book of Man, 79 percent of respondents agreed that old-school masculinity has to change, and 65 percent believe that stereotypes are dangerous to society. Yet just over half feel that they still need to conform to those alpha male stereotypes.