this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
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Young men, like 18-24 year old males on Hexbear: Is the culture for your age group completely fucked, or am I out of touch? (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Basically a repost pf things I said in the mega, but anecdotally I'm hearing that sales of fiction read by men are dropping precipitously, and English and literature classes in colleges are now dominated by women. It seems like young men are not being exposed to literature in the same way that they used to. Like, when I was in high school and college, you could be a "bro" kind of guy and read Chuck Palahniuk, or Hunter S. Thompson, or David Foster Wallace. For decades, authors like Hemmingway and Bukowski found receptive audiences in young men, not to mention all the crime fiction, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy that men have traditionally consumed. The "guy in your English class who loves David Foster Wallace" was a stereotype for a reason. I read in another thread that music is less culturally important to young men than it used to be. It seems like younger men just straight up see no value in reading literature or fiction, or exposing themselves or critically engaging with art and music, because the algorithms just railroad them into Alpha Gridset world.

Am I wrong about this? Am I being condescending and out of touch, or is this a real thing that's happening, where the whole "male" culture is turning into grindset podcasts and streamers?

Edit: Okay, so the impression I'm getting is that everything is worse but also kind of the same as it ever was, which sounds right.

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

IT SUCKS IT SUCKS IT SUCKS

I'm begging anyone in my immediate circle to just read a book or think about what they watch just a little. You don't have to be a scholar, God knows I'm not either, but it's so BORING. I dunno, maybe it's me, but I try to like, have a slightly in-depth conversation about any piece of media or art or whatever with someone and I just get nothing. We're all hooked up to the slop spigot and can't turn it off.

Also GET OFF YOUR FUCKING PHONE WHEN WE'RE HANGING OUT.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I do not use any social media (except this site, I guess) and it is bizarre trying to connect with anyone else. When people ask for my insta or whatever, I just say I have a phone number and that's it. If you want to get at me, text me or call me. I don't look at my phone when I'm hanging out with people unless it's to show them a picture or video that I took. People are always showing me tiktoks and I'm just like, "Oh, it's youtube but worse." Algorithmic content is poison. We're approaching a point where people make zero choices about what goes into their brains and it's terrifying and also the lamest fucking thing ever.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

Same here. I have a dummy cell phone that I use exclusively to receive calls or some text from my relatives (I prefer calls). It's worrying how you can become a ghost if you're not on any social network. People are usually like "give me your WhatsApp", "tell me your Instagram user", what? If you need me, here's my number, that's it, haha.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

IT SUCKS IT SUCKS IT SUCKS

I'm begging anyone in my immediate circle to just read a book or think about what they watch just a little. You don't have to be a scholar, God knows I'm not either, but it's so BORING. I dunno, maybe it's me, but I try to like, have a slightly in-depth conversation about any piece of media or art or whatever with someone and I just get nothing. We're all hooked up to the slop spigot and can't turn it off.

A small but significant part of why I hated Gambo from the start as a fad was because my old friend group, the people I played tabletop games with and generally hung out with, used to discuss and argue and joke about concepts from Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and whatever else was out there that caught their attention, but when Gambo came out it became "DID YOU SEE THAT?!" so-true and "HOLY SHIT THEY JUST MURDERED ANOTHER STARK!" so-true without any particular interest in anything but the spectacle of it and spreading that spectacle.

Also GET OFF YOUR FUCKING PHONE WHEN WE'RE HANGING OUT.

And yes, a lot of that was phone-driven. So many times, even during a tabletop session, the phones stayed out and they wouldn't just distract themselves, they'd try to distract me.

so-true "Look at this, UlyssesT. This will blow your mind." awooga libertarian-alert hypersus

debord-tired "Right. I saw that scene already. I'll never see that guy from Pacific Rim the same way again. Now what do you want to do on your turn?"

smuglord "Are you offended? I'm sorry, but not everything can be rainbows and sunshine. We're all grown-ass men here, right?"

My friend group adjusted over time and some people drifted out of it, but that experience haunted me. I lost something.