DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The Dominican Republic exports baseball players and bachata — and buries the reality of its men. The country produces more MLB players per capita than any nation, and for boys in San Pedro de Macorís and other baseball towns, the sport represents the only escape from poverty. But for every man who makes it to the majors, thousands burn out in academies that discard them at 18 with no education, no skills, and a shattered dream that was the only plan anyone ever offered them.

The absent father crisis is arguably the defining feature of Dominican masculinity. Men father children across multiple relationships — the culture not only permits but celebrates male sexual conquest — and the resulting patchwork of unraised sons creates a cycle where boys learn masculinity from the street, not the home. The Dominican-Haitian border adds another dimension: Dominican men of Haitian descent face a racial caste system that strips citizenship, dignity, and opportunity, creating a population of stateless men whose masculine identity has no ground to stand on. Meanwhile, the all-inclusive resorts of Punta Cana employ men in service roles that demand perpetual cheerfulness — smiling for tips while their families struggle in Santiago's barrios.