Comment by whimsicalism
2 years ago
i am very skeptical of narratives saying that young boys or men are more misogynistic than in the past. we have a cognitive bias towards thinking the past is better than it was, but specifically on gender issues i just do not buy a regression
> i am very skeptical of narratives saying that young boys or men are more misogynistic than in the past.
They don't even have to be more misogynistic than in the past for there to be a detrimental effect. Because so many other things in society -- pre-school and school environments, upbringing by more enlightened parents than what those parents themselves had, etc etc[1] -- cooperate to make young men and boys less misogynistic than in the past... But maybe that effect would be even more pronounced without shitty influences from social media; don't you think it's possible that all the online crap inhibits the good influences, so without it the kids would be even better?
[1]: From comparing my sons' generation to what I remember of my own youth and childhood.
Maybe in the US context. In the global context I think social media is almost certainly net anti-sexist compared to the attitudes parents are passing down.
What's the difference? AFAICS, global social media is US social media.
(I mean, hey, I'm here, aren't I? Where do you think I live?)
I mean, I don't know if it's better or worse than it was. I do know that it's bad, thanks to tons of studies on the subject covering a wide range of little kids who watch shitheads like Andrew Tate, Fresh & Fit, etc. Most grow out of it, but speaking as someone who did, I would be a much better and happier person today if I was never exposed to that garbage in the first place, and it's resulted in stunted social skills I am still unwinding from in my thirties.
This shit isn't funny, it's mental poison and massive social media networks make BANK shoving it front of young men who don't understand how bad it is until it's WAY too late. I know we can't eliminate every kind of shithead from society, that's simply not possible. But I would happily settle for a strong second-place achievement if we could not have companies making massive profits off of destroying people's minds.