But, we face a problem here in that among the "masculine" things we are teaching boys and men today is a bent against intellectual pursuits... like reading.
No.
I see nothing that indicates that anyone is teaching that intellectual pursuits are not masculine. I see a lot of boys being turned off from education due to how they are treated in school and a lack of engagement with the material and methods being used to teach.
When my son was in 4th grade, he had a teacher that constantly pitted the boys and girls against each other. The girls quickly realized that they could get away with anything and "blame" it on the boys. My son came home every day talking about how much he hated school. He was getting B's in writing that year and I asked that same teacher how he could improve. Her answer, "he is getting B's, what more do you want?" I said "I'd like to see how he could improve and get an A." She could
never answer my question. I had to go to the school principal and ask that she send his graded assignments home so that I could read them and work with him on improving his writing. He has gotten A's and high marks on state tests for writing ever since that point.
Schools are no longer rigorous in teaching and are generally lax in setting standards. His current middle school is the best in the county and it is a joke. They can turn assignments in late for full credit and there is no push for excellence.
He has had a some good English teachers in middle school that focus on reading. Those teachers made sure to provide a range of books that would be appealing to all types of readers and interests.
My son loves to read. There is absolutely no stigma with reading among his friends. He was a member of the Battle of the Books team for several years. He stopped doing it 2 years ago because he hated the books being selected for it and none of the selections appealed to him.
I do not see any effort to teach that reading or intellectual pursuits are not masculine. I do see is an approach to education that does not engage some boys along with serious issues plaguing school administration that does not support teachers and parents that do not support or engage with their kids education.
I also highly disagree with "learned" gender preferences. I have many female friends who dislike romantasy books too, for example.
Now, if you made an argument that many men were taught that reading is a childish activity, then I could see that as an argument. I found out later in life that my Dad loved to read but gave it up when I was born because a man had to give up fun to support his family. The feeling that my birth caused my father to give up something he loved made me feel terrible.
People are different and enjoy different styles of books. Older style sf&f is still profitable but does not find its way to the shelf and this is not because it does not sell well. It has more to do with it not having as high of margins as the romantasy/booktok stuff.
My son is lucky. He has access to a few thousand books at home with English major parents who introduce him to a variety of genre's and styles and we allow him to explore and discover what he enjoys.
