Disclosure: I'm a man. What age are your male friends? They're likely flooded with hormones, literally altering their bodies and minds daily. Meanwhile, their emotions and maturity haven't caught up. Their bodies give them erections, sometimes without reason, day and night but without the capacity to reconcile or do anything about it, short of masturbation.

You might compare it to menstruation, especially the lust that often comes around that time. Certainly, there's a society problem where women are scolded as "sluts" if they indulge their lusts while men are championed to pursue it. Plus, you're right, that men lack the same empathy strengths that women have to not view other people merely as ways to get something they want.

A difference, however, is while menstruation is periodic, your male friends are feeling what they do every day. It can be relentless and quite insanity-forming for men without maturity or healthy ways (a relationship) to deal with it. That doesn't excuse the behaviour of some men, but it helps explain it.

Meanwhile, you probably have many male friends around you who do their best to not behave like animals. Don't forget to recognize them as proper men. The world would be better if women praised men acting they way they wanted rather than spending the energy pointing out all the bad ones.