India, Nov. 8 -- I was out last weekend with a couple I am deeply fond of. They are in their 30s, newly married and have an unbridled optimism about their partnership that I have always found heart-warming.

Talking about how they balance personalities, priorities and disagreements, we began to discuss what it means to be a man these days.

The young man went quiet. I know the feeling, of being in somewhat dangerous territory. The young woman voiced stern opinions about toxic masculinity, and I felt like something of a weary veteran, watching from a distance.

My life has been full of conversations with women I love deeply, including my wife and daughters, now-ex-girlfriends and close friends, about how hard it is to be a woman. And it is...