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When I first read one of the new print ads for Dockers' "Wear the Pants" campaign, I couldn't wait to bash it with little sarcastic barbs criticizing its blatantly sexist bravado. I all but clicked my heels and clapped my hands with glee at the prospect of being able to wag my finger with disapproval at the khaki pants purveyor.

And then a funny thing happened: I started to feel sorry for men, but I'll get to that in a minute.

The campaign is centered on a metaphorical call to manhood. It's supposed to be humorous, but there are sexist overtones.

I'll let you judge for yourself. Here's the copy from one particularly telling print ad:

"Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well.

Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone.

Men took charge because that's what they did.

But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men.

Disco by disco, latte by foamy nonfat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny.

But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for.

The world sits idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street.

For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups.

We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency.

It's time to get your hands dirty. It's time to answer the call of manhood.

It's time to WEAR THE PANTS."

My first reaction was, really, men can't order a nonfat latte or eat salad or enjoy a disco?

It always bugs me that manhood is so narrowly defined and inflexible. This is manly. That is not. Didn't Tim Allen do that comedy routine back in the 1980s. Have we regressed?

At first blush, the ad just seems so antiquated. As far as I can see, the men still seem to be ruling the world, and despite the persistent attempts of a few New York designers, they will not adopt kilts or man skirts into their wardrobes no matter how cute they are.

And might I add that I have always believed that if your manhood can't survive on a dance floor then perhaps you never had it to lose.

But Jennifer Sey, Dockers global vice president of marketing, explained the impetus for the campaign to Brand Week magazine like this: "Eighty percent of those who suffered unemployment in the last year were men. Women (are on the verge of outnumbering) men in the workforce now. But the most surprising fact of all was that men's testosterone levels have been dropping by a percentage point a year for the last 20 years. All these factors add up to say, 'Wow, men are struggling in today's world.' ... Men have told us that they are expected to be more sensitive, to do more at home. They are confused about what it means to be a man today."

It turns out that a variety of factors provide enough evidence of men being in crisis to give me pause.

In a New York Times article, Stephanie Coontz, the research director for the Council on Contemporary Families, said, "We've known for some time that men need marriage more than women from the standpoint of physical and mental well-being. Now it is becoming increasingly important to their economic well-being as well. According to the Pew Research Center, unmarried men had the lowest rate of increased income between 1970 and 2007. Median household incomes of married men, married women and single women all rose about 60 percent in that time period. But for single men, median household income rose only 16 percent.

In 1970, 4 percent of husbands had wives who made more money; in 2007, 22 percent did.

Men ages 25 to 35 are the primary audience for the Dockers advertising campaign. This age group is the crucible of this metaphor for manhood that's presumably gone awry.

Among Americans age 30 to 44, this is the first generation where more women have college degrees than men.

So it's a great time for Dockers to raise the question of modern masculinity. But does telling men to put on the pants, really help us as a society?

Sure, it will sell some pants, but it won't change statistics on earning potential.

Men need to learn how to be men, even if they aren't the breadwinner. Men need to learn to be men even if they like a nice nonfat soy extra hot latte with two pumps of caramel syrup.

Men need to be comfortable in their own skin and comfortable sharing control with women. If financial or mental superiority is your litmus test for manhood, then wearing pants is the least of your worries.