This created a situation of sex ratio imbalance. Ordinarily, the ratio between boys and girls in all societies tends to be equal but in China of the 1980s, there were more boys than girls.

This Chinese generation of more-boys-less-girls came of age in early 2000s when the Asian giant was prosperous.

That meant there were some boys with no marriage partners. This led to a severe marriage squeeze, leading to Chinese young men sourcing women from neighbouring poorer countries like Vietnam.

Studies have affirmed that one key cause of violence and instability in any society is a general prevalence of young men without women to marry.

That partly explains why jails have a 95 per cent young male population. At the centre of these crime is the boy child striving to get resources by all means necessary to increase marriage prospects. Societies with a greater propensity to polygamous relationships develop social issues, particularly if the rich snatch all the beautiful women to the chagrin of the men at the bottom of the pyramid.

Equality among sexes

For societies to achieve better harmony, greater emphasis on equality of the sexes is of great importance. And the more equal the society is in terms of economic opportunities, the more the equality amongst sexes as all men have equal marriage prospects.

But, unfortunately, the real world has been working differently, particularly for the boy child. Look no further than in employment circles.

Women are now beating men in employment rates. Take an example of employment in counties. On average, counties employ 65 per cent women and 35 per cent men.

The largest cohort of employees in counties is nurses and early childhood educators. These are professions dominated by women. The same applies in the private sector.

Sectors that require macho characters like driving and lifting skills are getting being threatened by automation.

On the other hand, it appears skills associated with women like caring have obtained renewed societal premium. Hotel services that women dominate, for instance, remain buoyant.

Women are now graduating in larger numbers than men. Professions like lawyering now have more women than men.

But the greatest social shift in favour of women is manifest in rural areas. Women dominate attendance of progressive social gatherings like school meetings, churches and chamas.

Men dominate gatherings with the highest social risks like liquor establishments.

On health matters, it appears child bearing duties create a lifelong relationship between women and health facilities. That probably explains the five-year gap of better life expectancy in favour of women.

Poverty 

Of course, girls still face systematic barriers to progress in this part of the world. In terms of violence, poverty, reproductive health. Gender pay gap remains and it might take years to close. Boys domination in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics courses remain.

But in Mt Kenya, the part of the country where I come from, the reversal in favour of the girls is clearly manifest. Something should be done because Kenya needs happy boys and girls.

One key intervention required is better role modelling. And it starts with the fathers. If fathers abandon or mistreat their wives, the children will tend to view women as more caring and masculinity will be associated with wrongs. Fewer divorces and more stable families help raise better boy child.

Let fathers be the epitome of virtue and progress.

Second, building a more equitable society in economic terms will level the battle of the sexes. Unequal societies incentivise women to rush for the prosperous few men to the chagrin of the many poor men.

Third, skilling men into caring professionals might help. These include nursing, housekeeping and teaching. All societies are shifting more towards the service sector and becoming less dependent on primary productivity that favoured muscles. Primary productivity will be the first to face automation. Teaching will remain human in the foreseeable future. Once men's employability is protected, stronger families will endure.

Finally, mentorship of men is important. It appears Chamas have become important mentorship outlets for women. But men rarely socialise, except those who attend church regularly, play sports or patronise social clubs.

Women gaining in prominence is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, peaceful and prosperous societies tend to have stronger gender roles for women.

But a society where men are grumbling unhappily is also not desirable. We need the best of both sexes.

Societal shifts can be subtle. It might be too late when we discover we lost a whole generation.

Dr Kangata is the Governor of Murang’a County; Email [email protected]