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Porn and video game addiction are leading to 'masculinity crisis'

T

theusedversion

Member
videogame.jpg


A leading psychologist has warned that young men are facing a crisis of masculinity due to excessive use of video games and pornography.

Psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University Phillip Zimbardo has made the warnings, which form a major part of his latest book, Man (Dis)Connected.

In an interview on the BBC World Service's Weekend programme, Zimbardo spoke about the results of his study, an in-depth look into the lives of 20,000 young men and their relationships with video games and pornography.

He said: "Our focus is on young men who play video games to excess, and do it in social isolation - they are alone in their room."

---

He also blamed negative images of men in the American media, which show men as being "slobs, undesirable, only wanting to get laid and being inadequate in doing that."

He also called for better sex education in schools - which should focus not only on biology and safety, but also on emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships.
Click to expand...

Porn and video game addiction are leading to 'masculinity crisis', says Stanford prison experiment psychologist
There's more at the link above.


Youtube: Philip Zimbardo: The demise of guys?

BBC: Sexual Identity Crisis in Young Men

Guys, stop playing so many games and watching so much porn. Mmkay?
 
F

Finale Fireworker

Member
Laid low by the matriarchy, men are the true victims.

No. There are more positive male role models than anything else. Western culture is built by and for the benefit of men first.
 
F

FloatingDivider

Member
Hacky old man psychologist claims kids aren't doing the same shit they did when he was a kid. Surely this must be a problem because how can they be mans mans without doing the same shit I did. Btw this is the same idiot that ran the stanford prison experiment, just letting y'all know.
 
A

Apoleptica

Banned
Well men greatly desire sex and competitive action / violence. And the easiest and fastest method to fulfill those desires are via games and porn. If we could download food we would do that as well.
 
P

Pudge

Member
Porn is obviously evil and objectifies women! AND the men that watch it in excess are emasculated and weak!

Yup. The logic checks out.

Also, being alone in your room is not traditionally social, but come on. It's 2015. People do five hour livestreams to audiences of thousands while they are "alone in their room". The Internet is social.
 
A

ArkhamFantasy

Member
FloatingDivider said:
Hacky old man psychologist claims kids aren't doing the same shit they did when he was a kid. Surely this must be a problem because how can they be mans mans without doing the same shit I did. Btw this is the same idiot that ran the stanford prison experiment, just letting y'all know.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. If they are playing video games then they aren't bothering anyone, whats the problem?
 
shaowebb

shaowebb

Member
Wait...so are they trying to claim I can't play videogames and masturbate at the same time or does it only escape being a crisis if I'm playing videogames and having sex at the same time?

God these kinect games are getting too physical in either case...
 
B

burntchomsky

Member
John Kowalski said:
Seems to me that men are in crisis, but masculinity is thriving.
Click to expand...

Which may point towards a crisis of the term 'masculinity' itself. It ought to simply describe 'male-ness', however various its forms might be, but instead it only describes some macho, stupid stereotype.

And if this is the case, does it mean that men today simply do not know or understand anymore what it means to be male or 'masculine'? Are we misconstruing maleness, associating it with these stereotypes, when in fact it is something far different and more sweeping than what we believe?

Meh, at the very least, in my experience there is a crisis for young men in America with respect to isolation and realizing social roles. Here is an interesting article regarding that, which may or may not agree with: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/brooks-why-men-fail.html
 
T

trixx

Member
theusedversion said:
Youtube: Philip Zimbardo: The demise of guys?

BBC: Sexual Identity Crisis in Young Men

Guys, stop playing so many games and watching so much porn. Mmkay?
Click to expand...

Holy crap Zimbardo shitting on me in this video.

FloatingDivider said:
Hacky old man psychologist claims kids aren't doing the same shit they did when he was a kid. Surely this must be a problem because how can they be mans mans without doing the same shit I did. Btw this is the same idiot that ran the stanford prison experiment, just letting y'all know.
Click to expand...

Standford prison experiment, as terrible as it was is probably one of the founding experiments for the field of social psychology. Not that anything he's saying is fact but it's interesting.
 
B

BiggNife

Member
This study was in the news like a year or two ago. Not sure why it's popping up again.

It seems like a pretty gross exaggeration designed to get attention. Yes, too much of anything is a bad thing, but most people play video games in moderation.

Also, I'm not super well-versed in the psychology world, but my understanding is that post-Stanford Prison Experiment Zimbardo has a reputation for trying to get attention with bombastic headlines.
 
shaowebb

shaowebb

Member
Okay wait...what if I'm masturbating while playing videogames and eating a steak while making car noises as a local sports game is playing on the radio? Does that help?
 
N

ninanuam

Banned
This stuff always kinda annoys me.

We constantly get messages every fucking day that you shouldn't do traditionally masculine things anymore. There's no marketability in being a manly man anymore. So why bother.

Its not games that have fucked masculinity up its the electronic age along with the outsourcing of masculine tasks to third parties as essentially made those traditionally manly things meaningless. With that gone what the fuck are men supposed to do.

I for one intend to sit in my room and fight virtual people.
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
The video game connection seems...tenuous in this specific argument. The porn thing might have some more weight though, aren't there other studies presenting some similar arguments, at least with regard to self image and behavior change?
 
X

xandaca

Member
The easy availability of hardcore pornography online and the graphic violence of certain games is certainly problematic for younger, developing minds, even if (as usual) these pieces undermine what validity their arguments have by suffocating it under 'kids today' drivel. The solution, or at least part of one, would surely be greater education for children and parents alike in order to prepare them for what's out there, and plenty of direct socialisation and physical activities, particularly for energetic boys, for children in addition to their time online. The censorship that generally gets called for in these situations would be the worst possible answer.

As for masculinity, the school and university curriculum certainly seems to have been re-adjusted in recent years, even decades, to favour more typically female abilities, but I'm not sure it's either so severe to merit this kind of hyperbole or that there's any more crisis for men/boys as much as both sexes having to deal with the instability of changing expectations and social roles.
 
L

Late Flag

Member
I am willing to volunteer for a strict regimen of porn and video games if it will further the aims of science. It's tough, I know, but somebody needs to make sacrifices for the good of humankind.
 
R

RelentlessRolento

Member
Video games in moderation I would say promotes masculinity more especially since games are more n more willing to talk about touchy subjects, but addiction is a different story.
 
G

GloriousBagel

Banned
FloatingDivider said:
Hacky old man psychologist claims kids aren't doing the same shit they did when he was a kid. Surely this must be a problem because how can they be mans mans without doing the same shit I did. Btw this is the same idiot that ran the stanford prison experiment, just letting y'all know.
Click to expand...

Zimbardo is not a hacky old psychologist lol
 
B

bigdaddygamebot

Member
Yeah...it must be porn and video games.

It probably has nothing at all to do with the massive identity crisis women are going through. A good number of women should be asking themselves..."Why aren't I more interesting than a video game?" & "Why would a man rather watch porn than spend time with me?"

Men. We're the problem.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
The Technomancer said:
The video game connection seems...tenuous in this specific argument. The porn thing might have some more weight though, aren't there other studies presenting some similar arguments, at least with regard to self image and behavior change?
Click to expand...
Couldn't porn and video games be connected in that many of them show a "manly-man" stereotype and therefore inculcate terrible "masculine" ideals in young men?
 
FranXico

FranXico

Member
Addiction is an atypical consumption of the medium.

He also blamed negative images of men in the American media, which show men as being "slobs, undesirable, only wanting to get laid and being inadequate in doing that."

He also called for better sex education in schools - which should focus not only on biology and safety, but also on emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships.
Click to expand...

I partly agree with the second statement, as for the first, I am going to assume he is referring to the stereotype ascribed to gamers. In fact, it seems to all of this is about the gamer stereotype.
 
F

Fisty

Member
In an age of SWATing and gamergates, I can kind of see why he might think that. Obviously its not 100% prevalent, but its not that much of a reach imo
 
M

Mechanized

Member
I consider it evolution and adaptation to our environment rather than a crisis. Glass half full kinda thing. The world was gonna get overpopulated at some point, remember?

Once the sex robots and VR are mainstream say goodbye to whatever sort of social and sexual norms our society had.
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
orthodoxy1095 said:
Couldn't porn and video games be connected in that many of them show a "manly-man" stereotype and therefore inculcate terrible "masculine" ideals in young men?
Click to expand...

Maybe but while I'd be on board with a criticism that chose to focus on porn and video games I certainly wouldn't suggest that they're sole cultural influences
 
Demoskinos

Demoskinos

Member
Masculinity crisis? Lmao okay. If anything the crisis about masculinity revolves around society basically telling men from the time they are born to not feel feelings or at least express them (because that makes you weak and men aren't supposed to be weak) which then translates into poor relationships with and views of women among other social hangups.
 
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