Speaking from my experience, men are responsible for their own emasculation. I know plenty of good guys who'd make great nurses, physical therapists, or home health aids. These are jobs that require a fair amount of physical strength and stamina in addition to individual initiative and focus. (That's what men are supposed to be good at, right?) Unfortunately, they're also jobs that are stereotypically female and somehow that makes them off limits. Instead, they take two paths: 1. spend thousands to train for a declining industry (there are two underemployed airline mechanics on my block) 2. expect that good paying semi-skilled jobs should be widely available for every high school graduate.

One other odd fact: In my neighborhood, this problem really only affects white men. There are quite a few black male medical assistants and nurses and almost no white ones.