Like, why is it so widespread, what causes it, what solutions are available, etc. I don’t really know how to ask this question so I hope I’m making sense

  • Natanael
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    8 days ago

    Culture of excessive individuality and independence plus macho culture

    Lack of intergenerational teaching and connections to help kids mature when growing up

    • @teslasaur@lemmy.world
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      87 days ago

      Macho culture existed long before the loneliness. It’s a different kind of macho culture now that is detrimental.

      Previous generations had less destructive outlets for machismo than boys of today. Being part of a sports team meant that you had an outlet and a group that you shared common goals with.

    • @1984@lemmy.today
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      8 days ago

      I think maybe those words are true, but they are so generic they don’t say anything to me.

      I think women has changed due to social media, and that’s causing the men loneliness.

      • Natanael
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        108 days ago

        No, male culture has changed far more due to propaganda, etc.

      • @211@sopuli.xyz
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        438 days ago

        I’m confused. Are women on social media interfering on man-to-man friendships?

      • @scarabic@lemmy.world
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        88 days ago

        Huh??? We’ve been uncommunicative, miserable fucks for much longer than the internet has been around.

      • folkrav
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        98 days ago

        Your first hint that this is a naive take is that you’re brushing off a societal issue to a single, external factor.

      • @Alteon@lemmy.world
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        16 days ago

        Men that have been captured by the “alpha” and “masculinity” culture don’t realize that it makes them fucking radioactive. They are literally the reason why women choose the bear. Boys thinking that they have to be hyperbolic, over-aggressive, possessive, manipulative assholes in order to be a “man” are the exact reason that they are lonely.

        These men don’t have a god given right to just “have” a girlfriend.

    • burgersc12
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      97 days ago

      This is basically it. It costs money to hang out with people IRL, everytime, all because of cars. We are all spread out so far now, except in a handful of places. Even without factoring in cars, the amount of activities that people can do for free or cheap is dwindled to basically nothing. This is simplistic, but the reality is no one can really afford real friends anymore.

      • Dogiedog64
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        138 days ago

        The colloquial “third place” is, as I understand it, a (usually) public place OUTSIDE of Home or Work where people can meet, hangout, play, or just exist without the expectation of spending money or being productive in some way. Examples would be Parks, Libraries, old-timey Public Houses and Cafes, Playgrounds, Forests and Wilderness within walking distance, and more.

        Car culture killed a lot of that by removing the ability to reasonably walk places outside major metro areas, as businesses relocated to cities, and because they straight up increased the fatality rate for walking substantially. Internet Culture also killed it since you can just talk to your buddies through the Demon Rectangle instead of meeting IRL.

        • @bradd@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          Automotibles are not car culture. If anything car culture turns a garage into a third place, by your definition, and brings other people out of their houses and out of the workplace, to meet. Car culture is more an adaptation people have made due to the advent of the automotible and the problems you attribute to “car culture”. Everything has expanded and is cut up by streets and shit because automotibles are useful… as a side effect has made it harder to have a third place, as you have pointed out, and so people who engage in car culture actually overcome the challenge by integrating automotibles into their culture, they persevere.

          I would actually make the same argument for internet culture. The internet isn’t internet culture, and if anything internet culture has allowed people to express themselves through the internet, embracing it and integrating it into their lives rather than just living beside it. For people who consider themselves part of internet culture, the internet is their third place where they play.

          With that said, it’s still an interesting idea. I do think we pay a high price for the luxuries that we have today and it’s not well understood. Having infrastructure designed around automotibles, for example, fucking sucks.

    • @oyo@lemm.ee
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      148 days ago

      I would posit that the internet and abundant screen entertainment contributed to killing third places far more than cars. The US has had a car culture for a very long time. (I’m not saying that makes it a good thing.)

      • @isaaclw@lemmy.world
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        68 days ago

        Maybe. But if people had the sqme amoubt of screen time and wqlked or biked, or took public transit there would be more forced interaction than there is in car culture.

        I think they go hand in hand. And right now we got both.

    • Captain Aggravated
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      -37 days ago

      Funny you should phrase it like that.

      My uncle is a machinist specializing in automotive engine repair and modification. Over dinner last month, he mentioned that he’s used to seeing middle age customers for hot rod engine builds, midlife crisis “Always wanted to do this” kind of guys, but lately he’s been seeing men in their teens and twenties come in wanting heads ported and polished and shit like that.

      They’re not spending money on women because women have made themselves impossible to want, so young men are turning their attention to things like cars.

      • Dragon Rider (drag)
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        87 days ago

        So you’re saying they want their heads polished by a man because women are unattainable? Interesting…

      • sunzu2
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        27 days ago

        women have made themselves impossible to want

        No sure what this mean… There is never lack of demand for pussy. It is always supply constrained ever since people figure how to trade

        With that being said, yound adult men generally no market value since they have no status which is a key in getting with women. Status is linked to class but that’s just a part of it.

    • @nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
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      48 days ago

      Others have explained it (places where social interaction is the primary intent - not home and not work) but I’ll add - old European cities (and most smaller towns) have some sort of public square. Many have lasted to this day and are still used. We can still build them, we but our chosen form of urbanization isn’t that conducive to it so we don’t. In North America in the 80 and into the 90s, malls we’re 3rd place. Then they started aggressively going after loitering in malls since simply sitting in a mall doesn’t produce economic activity. Many malls died and many are still dying. Those that survived achieved the - nobody goes there to chill anymore. Just to buy what they need, maybe eat, and then leave. Nobody plans to “meet at the mall” anymore.

      • @SoftTeeth@lemmy.world
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        98 days ago

        How much time do you willingly spend in public interacting with others?

        There was a lot more of it happening before society required everyone to have personal transportation.

        I’m an introvert so I am at home, work, or errands. I probably would talk to a lot more strangers if I had to use public transport and it wasn’t so expensive to do anything fun in public.

        • You would?

          I use public transit daily and hardly ever interact with anyone. Maybe there is one interaction every 100 days? I don’t frequently see two strangers interacting either, it’s unheard of except maybe for retirees with effectively infinite time.

          • sunzu2
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            27 days ago

            Well, people will ask you for directions sometimes so that’s something…

            The best you get in a car is road rage

          • @Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works
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            7 days ago

            A challenge for you (or anyone interested in taking it up): Once a day, while waiting for public transit, pay attention to the people around you. Does anyone have something interesting about them (hair, clothes, jewelery, weird keychain thing on their phone, etc.)? Ask one identified person about it. See someone who looks like they are on the verge of tears? Ask them “Hey, is everything ok?”

            9/10 times you’ll have a brief Q-A-back off interaction, but sometimes it’ll turn into a longer conversation. Yes, it feels awkward. Yes, in some places you’ll come across as rude/uncomfortably weird (keep your dominant culture in mind - you probably wouldn’t try this in some place like Finland or something). But I’ve had some very interesting experiences doing this in the past (usually with the ones who look upset - if you’re willing to be a sympathetic ear you might just make that person’s day).

            • I can imagine little worse than doing what you just described although that is (in part) due to moderate social anxiety. I behave in the exact opposite way - ignoring people regardless of how much they stand out because I don’t want to stare.

              Though I can imagine what you’ve been doing has helped others.

  • Em Adespoton
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    237 days ago

    Here’s a theory. I’m sure it has lots of holes in it.

    Male loneliness has always been a thing. In cultures where it isn’t/wasn’t, there was a strong family relationship and older men modelling how to relate to others.

    To hide from loneliness, men were able to join clubs, hang out at pubs, volunteer, or bury themselves in work.

    In fact, those same pastimes are still available today.

    What’s changed is that it is now socially OK to talk about loneliness (at least in online forums like this), so more people are aware it’s an issue.

    • @insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafe
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      137 days ago

      In fact, those same pastimes are still available today.

      That is glossing over a lot of context, a big one being that club membership is down (that’s a big point of Bowling Alone). I would not be surprised if many clubs relocated or shut down due to low membership, especially after raising membership fees. Or y’know that they were already a middleclass thing, thus canaries.

      Pubs are also going to rely on prices, but the most social ones likely are accessible by free public transit or are located in a walkable/mixed-use area (particularly cities designed before+not-bulldozed-for cars).

      I don’t think this is about awareness, especially when most people have less friends and less (or no) social engagement.

      • sunzu2
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        57 days ago

        The entire country is designed to physically isolate people into shiti suburban houses.

        Only solution is to quit being poor and live in specific major cities that didn’t get ruined by shiti car lobbies 🤡

        • Em Adespoton
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          17 days ago

          I think you have something here. I grew up in the country where people had to actively seek out activities and relationships, including with people they may not otherwise choose to be around. In the city/burbs, I actively chose to travel by foot/transit/someone else’s vehicle, even though it would have been easier to drive everywhere (I mean, sidewalks that just… vanish halfway to a destination? No transit east-west on major arteries? City planners obviously are prioritizing vehicle traffic).

          But as a result, I’ve never felt isolated AND have the skills to connect with others who aren’t like me. It’s those skills that seem to have been going away as people hide themselves in their social media bubbles and behind their steering wheels. The same opportunities for socialization are still there, but they take more effort than people are used to making because there’s easier alternatives available than there used to be.

      • Em Adespoton
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        27 days ago

        I think you may have missed the point I was making though— clubs and other pastimes didn’t make people less lonely; they only distracted people from their loneliness. Today the same distractions can be found via social media, so instead of all those other activities, people just need a phone.

        But the anonymizing nature of social media means people feel more free to discuss their loneliness when they do self-reflect.

  • @SparrowHawk@feddit.it
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    268 days ago

    Patriarchy harms and isolates men first so that they become the monsters that women fear.

    The same way women are expected to look and act a certain way, so is for men, with different criteria.

    Not by people per se, but by a sort of cultural subconscious, like a chaos creature from warhammer it exists because people believe in it, not necessarily because they agree with it. Everyone fears it, so most comply.

    That’s why it is so important to destroy the social gender binary, the idea that we all neatly fit in well defined labels that apply to our body and mind. It’s just complete bullshit and internalizing it is one of the many ways this system traps us in its oppression

    • @essell@lemmy.world
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      128 days ago

      Absolutely agree.

      One of the ways we’ve gone wrong so far is that people do need some guidance at least on what is possible and acceptable.

      Just saying to young people “Be whatever you want to be” is unhelpful and confusing.

      Role models of all kinds and representation matter so people who are figuring these things out as they grow have inspiration, ideas, can see who they are reflected in the world around them so they can put a name to the feeling.

      If we can do that without shaming, blaming or excluding then people can find their way without the need of gender binary.

      Caveat, not everyone is a suitable role model. Some people are warnings, not examples.

      • @jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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        118 days ago

        There was a meme the other day about how Aragorn from lotr is the kind of male role model men need. Kind, shows his emotions, strong without being cruel.

    • Captain Aggravated
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      -17 days ago

      Never don’t downvote posts with the word “patriarchy” in them. The right says “DEI hire” the left says “Patriarchy.”

      • @SparrowHawk@feddit.it
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        37 days ago

        Except if you did just the slightest bit of research you’d know patriarchy is an anthropological and well defined phenomenon not based on prejudice but on research of oppression throughout millennia, while the other is just an excuse to be intolerant.

        This kind of false equivalences really show people’s disinterest in going deeper with their judgment. There’s nothing comparable about the two other than widespread use

  • @FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    I’m not sure how useful the term “male loneliness” is. There’s a crisis of loneliness in every sex and gender, it’s a side effect of capitalism.

    EDIT: spelling error.

    • @AnarchoNoAdjective@lemmy.ml
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      458 days ago

      Commodification of human interaction, enshitification of social spaces, environmental degradation. Stagnant wage growth vs record profits and increasing cost of living. Yeah that’s the profit motive at work. The unwillingness of most to see it, that’s the propaganda in service of the profit motive.

        • @JamesFire@lemmy.world
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          148 days ago

          Because it, at the very least, contributes to them.

          You’re absolutely delusional if you think the system around which we structure our lives doesn’t affect us.

        • @djsoren19@yiffit.net
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          88 days ago

          Why are you saying this in jest? Late-stage capitalism is a civilization ending event, like an aggressive cancer upon our collective reality. It will consume everything we have to give it and demand more in the pursuit of infinite growth.

    • @Rhoeri@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      Capitalism is responsible for loneliness now??

      No, loneliness is a side effect of being human. You think there aren’t lonely people living under socialism? Under communism? Or any other types of governments and socioeconomic systems?

      For fuck’s sake. When people blame everything on capitalism, it dilutes the water of any real argument you may eventually have.

      • @FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        Capitalism absolutely contributes to the loneliness crisis. Firstly, it creates a culture of individualism, making it all about “every person for themselves” rather than fostering a sense of community or collective well-being. Stable, long-term jobs that used to provide social connections are being replaced by gig work and precarious employment, leaving people isolated and too burned out to build meaningful relationships outside work.

        On top of that, capitalism pushes this idea that happiness comes from products instead of building connections. Social experiences are even commodified now—like dating apps and paid meetups—so relationships feel more like transactions. Cities, designed for profit, don’t help either. You’ve got people crammed into apartments, commuting for hours, all in their individual cars or with their headphones on, and barely interacting with their neighbours. Public spaces that encourage connection are underfunded or replaced with malls and shopping centres.

        And then there’s the way capitalism shapes cultural perception of mental health. Capitalism treats loneliness and isolation as individual problems, with solutions like therapy apps and self-help books (ie. profitable industries) rather than addressing the systemic issues that cause them. Even social media, which could foster connection, is driven by algorithms that push engagement over genuine interaction, leaving people feeling more disconnected after hours of scrolling.

        At the end of the day, capitalism is profit over people. It’s no surprise that in a world focused on production, consumption, and competition, we’re all feeling so alone. The link between capitalism and alienation is well studied in social science.

        • Our western culture of individualism is older than capitalism. Much older. It stems from our agricultural and pastoral modes of production. Grains like wheat as well as livestock like sheep, goats, and cattle are highly amenable to work by an individual farmer or shepherd or rancher. Wheat is sown in ploughed fields that have been worked by oxen or horses.

          Compare with a different grain like rice which must be transplanted into flooded fields by large groups of people or crops like potatoes or yams which must be planted and dug up individually by mass labour.

          The structure of individualism or collectivism is in the roots of our cultures going back thousands of years. So rather than capitalism giving rise to individualism I think the opposite is the case.

        • @GrammarPolice@lemmy.world
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          -138 days ago

          Except for the fact that loneliness has existed long before capitalism and will continue to do so after its disbandment 🤦

          • @JamesFire@lemmy.world
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            98 days ago

            Capitalism exacerbates a lot of problems. You should try learning how and why rather than just going “nah those problems existed before” (Completely ignoring that they are far worse now than they were before, so fucking obviously something changed)

            • @GrammarPolice@lemmy.world
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              -138 days ago

              Lmao of course you’d say they were worse before😂 even though feudalism was probably the most oppressive system we had as a society. Loneliness rates would’ve been through the roof. Sounds like you’re the one who needs to learn a little bit more

      • @211@sopuli.xyz
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        208 days ago

        You have to admit the “leftist” ideologies tend to be about working together and supporting each other, and the “right wing” ideologies about encouraging individual accomplishments, though?

      • @SparrowHawk@feddit.it
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        158 days ago

        You can only think that way if you stop at the most superifical point of discussion and perception.

        One way capitalism increases loneliness is with the job economy. We work too much, to blindly increase “profits” for someone who doesn’t care about us. We are restless and tired when we get home, going out costs too much (because of the same corporations pushing the economy and legislation that makes life always the more expensive) so we don’t go out the same.

        Obviously capitalism is but one of the factors of modern loneliness, but it is heavily intertwined with a political will of weakening our resolve and hope and companionship.

        When things go a certain way, you need only follow who benefits the most from it, and you will almost surely find the cause for that ill

            • @Rhoeri@lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              Not at all! I am just able to recognize a futile argument against ignorance before it happens. And as a rule, I don’t exercise futility. It’s a thing that comes with age.

              • @SparrowHawk@feddit.it
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                27 days ago

                I explained my point, you ignored it as an “excersize in futility”, you’re just lazy and don’t want to actually read beyond the first lines

                • @Rhoeri@lemmy.world
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                  -17 days ago

                  You’re absolutely right that I ignored it. Because it’s an absurd take and therefore I dismissed it.

                  I’ve said it already- but I guess it did’t sink in:

                  Loneliness is a part of being human and exists within ALL cultures, races, governments, wealth brackets, employment statuses, genders, and ages.

                  End of story.

  • @dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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    178 days ago

    For decades it has been ingrained in men that they are to be held to a very specific standard. Men don’t cry, men are strong, men have to take care of everyone else, stop your whining, I’ll give you something to cry about, be the alpha male, that’s “gay”, strength, weakness, and so on.

    My father, and grandfather, both grew up with a code of silence. Feelings weren’t talked about, but relayed through their wives; except anger. That was given directly through corporal punishment (hand or belt).

    I was always “emotional” growing up. I cried “like a baby” over “nothing”. No one ever came to check on me, or console me, during any of my “fits”. In fact, there were times I was ridiculed for it (sometimes by family members).

    When I was 19 my grandmother died. I was really close with her; she was the only one who ever came to my aid and defended me. It tore me up so bad I could barely talk without breaking down. I was told multiple times that I shouldn’t be so upset, and that I was overreacting (by my family). Everything came to a head when all at once my cousins, aunts, uncles, and even brother yelled at me because I was being selfish and unreasonable, and insensitive to my grandfather because “he just lost his wife”.

    Oh, and apologies are for “pussies”.

    Anyway, it’s not really about me. I wanted to paint a picture for you as to why I’m lonely. Do with that what you will.

  • CurlyWurlies4All
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    508 days ago

    The atomization of society. The process of a society breaking down into smaller, isolated units, where individuals are self-interested and self-sufficient. It can lead to a feeling of being alone even when surrounded by people.

    • @Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      188 days ago

      I was thinking about it this morning.

      Look at Beatle-mania or Spice Girl-mania.

      Back in the day, 100 million people were aware of one big thing and it brought them together.

      Today with the internet, you’ve got a million different ‘big things’ each with 100 fans.

      • @kshade@lemmy.world
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        47 days ago

        We still have mass phenomenons and bringing 100 people together is plenty. What’s probably missing is local community.

        • @Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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          37 days ago

          Serious question.

          What’s the last thing in entertainment that you think was known to everyone in the USA? I’m not talking about Taylor Swift dating a football player. I mean a brand new act coming out and all kinds of people excited.

          I can’t think of anything.

  • hendrik
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    8 days ago

    Btw, It’s a lot more pronounced here on the internet. Since it’s a filter bubble. If you dive into the real world, you’ll find a lot of males also have healthy lives, a lot of hobbies, they’re going out with friends, playing football once a week etc. I mean it’s certainly there, and a big issue in society. All I want to say is, don’t just look at some social media and draw conclusions from that. The perspective here is heavily skewed and making it look more desperate than it is.

    • @rhacer@lemmy.world
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      58 days ago

      I think there is a lot of wisdom here. I’m old, many of my meaningful relationships were formed before three was an internet. Now I use online tools to stay in touch with friends who are friends I have interacted with face-to-face, not people know solely online.

      That’s not to say meaningful relationships cannot be owned online. I have met a number of people IRL who I originally met playing Football Manager or on XBox Live.

      But online relationships are not a substitute for real face-to-face interactions.

      I tell people that making friends needs to be intentional. It takes work and commitment.

  • @Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
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    128 days ago

    I’ve thought about this a lot myself. I’m 12-15 friends/acquaintances down due to them deciding to step out of life in their twenties or thirties. On paper none of them seemed to be in too bad a way and yet…

    There’s obviously the problem that having and discussing emotions is for girls and gays only (/s), but there must be more to it than that.

    I think there’s an expectation (where I live) that men should be strong and stoic at all times - but, honestly, many of us are fragile little flowers, some of the time, but it’s seen (erroneously) as weakness.

    In my experience most men are happy to talk about: “big screen tv’s, blunts, 40’s and bitches” to NSFW quote

    Steve Berman

    but they can’t open up about emotions and feelings.

    • Sorry for your loss.

      Yes, I think of emotional talk as “showing weakness”, because people around me gladly lash out at the exposed surface. Men and women do that, but it hurts more from women. They seem to be better at dealing emotional damage, or I’m just more receptive when it comes from them.

      Also, talk about feelings needs to be handled, and can be handled very poorly. It also can seem demanding. “When I have my plate full of my own stuff I don’t want to deal with yours”, or similar mindsets when the tools to properly handle such a situation were just never acquired.

      On the other hand talk about sportsball is a way to entertain oneself while giving the lizardbrain time to adapt to the people around it.

      • @Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
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        28 days ago

        I think you’re correct that (some / many) people see the tiniest chink in your armour and go for the juggler (jugular vein - clown 🤡 joke) to compound your misery to make themselves feel/look “strong”.

        And, yes, in abusive relationships I believe a husband is more likely to hurt and damage his wife with his fists whereas a wife would be more likely to hurt and damage her husband with words - generally speaking. It’s tragic either way…

        • I think you’re correct that (some / many) people see the tiniest chink in your armour and go for the juggler (jugular vein - clown 🤡 joke) to compound your misery to make themselves feel/look “strong”.

          I think most do it to be right. To win an argument or “prove” one is right.

          And, yes, in abusive relationships I believe a husband is more likely to hurt and damage his wife with his fists whereas a wife would be more likely to hurt and damage her husband with words - generally speaking. It’s tragic either way…

          I’ve seen more men being abusive in a nonviolent way than women. (Also in a violent way, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.) Women tend to be almost abusive, if that makes sense. Not being tangible for a statistic or something, but carving their way to their personal button they can push whenever they feel like it to make their spouse emotional in a way they can use. Can be something like “planned incompetence”, a repeated phrase or problem, or anything really.

          Men tend to be openly hostile more often, while women tend to cover their intentions more. Not saying this is exclusive to gender, but saying it’s a tendency.

  • @untorquer@lemmy.world
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    197 days ago

    Gender division and masculinity is trained into us from the second our genitals are identified be it sonogram or at birth. From the colors, toys, media, to early childhood social pressures were pushed into one of two molds. If a boy interacts with a girl it’s labelled as boyfriend girlfriend even if there’s no romantic intent (because why would children have that?). But the point is that masculinity [and femininity] is programmed throughout the core development of the brain. Unless there’s a motivation to question it that developed neuron architecture only gets reinforced. By the time you’re able to question it you’re so set in the concrete it takes years or decades of struggle to unlearn the worst traits. When you unlearn them it’s a threat to people who haven’t had to question it.

    When you’re emotionally isolated from yourself, and surrounded by others who are also emotionally isolated, you’re not motivated to be around them since they won’t fulfill your needs. Then, you realize you’re also not comfortable enough to bridge the divide to people who are in touch with their own emotions. So all this hard work and you’re only a few steps down the path to connection. Usually with little sense of where to go from there.

    When you finally get to the point of diving in and expressing emotionally outward, it’s easy to get wrapped with anxiety. You expect others to push you away, not because they will, most people respond well, but because you’re even less oriented and more vulnerable than ever. Though i would argue less fragile.

    Lots of other posts discussing things like whether other people in the age group are socially available, and lack of third spaces.

    • nifty
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      But the point is that masculinity [and femininity] is programmed throughout the core development of the brain. Unless there’s a motivation to question it that developed neuron architecture only gets reinforced. By the time you’re able to question it you’re so set in the concrete it takes years or decades of struggle to unlearn the worst traits. When you unlearn them it’s a threat to people who haven’t had to question it.

      Except for children with autism, I’d say. My mom couldn’t get me to be girly or feminine while I was growing up, I just did what made sense, sometimes that was a girly or feminine thing and other times not.

      Maybe the patriarchy is an allistic people problem lol.

  • @jeffw@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Toxic gender norms hurt everyone.

    I think this is exacerbated by certain people online who want to capitalize on the issue and scapegoat others (see the manosphere and how they talk about feminism) instead of actually addressing the problem

    Edit: a little plug for https://lemmy.ca/c/mensliberation

  • @j4k3@lemmy.world
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    328 days ago

    Male loneliness is likely partially due to the same reason we are all here; this online outlet for social endorphins is why you were not building up a deficit over the last week and felt the motivation to finally call that person you were thinking about this whole time. That person was a passing thought, and the endorphins hit you might have received is ultimately less than you got from the austere but consistent dose you get from social engagement online.

    The only problem is that you are not creating a meaningful personal social network in real life. When you really need such a network in practice, you face the reality of no one to turn to, or less depth and meaning to such connections. Real people are also complex and you must face the reality that no one fits your echo chamber bubble like a place like this. If you act like a down vote or stupid hot take comes across here to people in the real world… you find yourself back here with less options in the future.

      • @j4k3@lemmy.world
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        128 days ago

        Don’t get disabled and have a place like this as your only outlet to connect with other humans. Anonymous and mob like negativity, especially from misunderstandings, can be hurtful when sharing some part of yourself or the only time you’ve said anything to anyone in a day or more from within a prison of loneliness you cannot escape.

      • @xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        58 days ago

        Ah, I guess I’ll need to tell my teenage friend who never made it to adulthood after feeling trapped and ruined when an older man started an online relationship that isolated her from her family to… fucking grow a pair or something?

        Healthy mature people can exist online in a positive manner. Not everyone is an adult and not every adult is mature. The internet can be a dangerous place and it’s unhelpful to try and dismiss that.

    • palordrolap
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      -18 days ago

      Male loneliness is as much a symptom of the “suck it up” toxic masculinity that pervades your comment as it is the content of your comment.

      Men are taught to be stoic, to rely only on themselves, to suck it up and get on with it, and for some, they’re trying desperately to conform to something that seems frighteningly easy for others. They’re expending all their energy on that unnatural - for them - attempt to conform rather than being able to simply exist as they might otherwise be.

      Your instinct might be to attack me for pointing this out. That’s toxicity at play. Look at yourself.

      But I haven’t made my main point yet. It’s this same toxicity and trying to “be a man” that turns men into the monsters that women fear, and so it becomes a vicious cycle of negativity breeding loneliness and on and on.

      My advice would be “Do better. And if you can’t do better, do your best. And whatever you do, minimise harm.”

      • @j4k3@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I choose to abstract and never attack anyone, while you insult, and make assumptions about my disposition going as far as assigning them an ideology and framework that seems repugnant and baseless to me. I see and feel lots of projection and bias, but if causing a disabled person in social isolation harm makes you feel better, I’m glad you had a better day. The comments seem so randomly unrelated it feels like you are possibly a misinformation agent of some sort.

        • palordrolap
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          18 days ago

          I’m genuinely confused how my advice to minimise harm has itself caused harm. And sometimes, someone’s “best” isn’t much at all. That’d be me most days.

          I should probably have put a conditional on “Look at yourself” to tie it in with the “might” in the lead sentence, though, that’s on me.

        • Rimu
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          28 days ago

          Yeah I agree that response was uncalled-for.