You’ve been fed a picture of a past that you did not live in, where men apparently were much better off. You should question that picture, make sure somebody isn’t just blowing smoke up your ass, whether because of rose-colored glasses or something more malicious.
WW1, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, WW2, Vietnam… it’s hasn’t always been that great for a man. These are real things, they all happened in addition to any storybook pictures you might have in your head. Remember what our forefathers had to go through to get us here, it wasn’t all good things. It’s only fair then that we, too, have our hard times that we must face. We don’t need to tear other people down to overcome them.