patriarchal men to enact rituals of power that will assault his self-esteem.

This isn't exclusive to men, women do this too. Even many that say they want a "sensitive" guy don't actually in my experience, they want a guy that can be empathetic to others (namely them) but still have no feelings of his own, just try to cry in front of one (especially for anything less than a death of someone close, or as I've been told before "yeah we don't like it when guys cry for stupid reasons but if there's something like your mom died sure. I want a sensitive guy not a pussy.")

Call it the patriarchy all you want, but women certainly reinforce it too, IME even some that espouse hatred for it turn around and reinforce it in the same breath.