I think it's more fragile today because feminism has so undermined "traditional" (read: Western Europe post-1700) masculinity. Masculinity has, for the vast majority of agricultural history, never actually been challenged. For the last 100 years, however, moreso every decade, there has been a growing cultural awareness of how much that "traditional" masculinity fucking sucks. Fragility is reaction, and reaction only exists in response to progress.
I would also point out that, although Western European forms of patriarchy have been exported to cultures all over the world, most cultures - even ones with very different norms of gender - were/are still fundamentally patriarchal. Where those old structures remain, they are often equally reactionary to the assertion of agency by non-men.
I think it's more fragile today because feminism has so undermined "traditional" (read: Western Europe post-1700) masculinity. Masculinity has, for the vast majority of agricultural history, never actually been challenged. For the last 100 years, however, moreso every decade, there has been a growing cultural awareness of how much that "traditional" masculinity fucking sucks. Fragility is reaction, and reaction only exists in response to progress.
I would also point out that, although Western European forms of patriarchy have been exported to cultures all over the world, most cultures - even ones with very different norms of gender - were/are still fundamentally patriarchal. Where those old structures remain, they are often equally reactionary to the assertion of agency by non-men.