The crisis, if there is one, is that society has less use for males who have IQs between 90-105 or so, who cannot cut it in STEM, and who are finding it hard to cope with increasingly competitive economic conditions and higher overall costs like rent, and is why many men are delaying family formation or moving back with parents (but also due to careerism for women). Men are just dropping out rather than doing low-paid work and having to deal with political correctness at the office and other inconveniences.
The data are clear: The boys are not all right
111–120 of 1001 posts
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#112Andrew Yang makes some good points in this piece, particularly about positive masculinity and role models. Whether fair or not, the perception that the left is hostile to men has driven recruitment for the far right, and that merits some reflection. But he's also really facile about underlying economic causes. It's easy to blame problems on "our culture has been broken by the wokes!", but many of the problems of youn…
I've coached high school sports teams, both boys and girls, for the last two decades. I've seen some of these trends unfold over the years with my student athletes. My observation is girls are just more motivated than boys, even for something fun like sports practices and workouts, girls in general will show up more consistently than boys. The teachers I've spoken to at the school where I coach have confirmed the same thing with school work. What I've seen is the boys that are successful at school or sports have at least one parent pushing them at home, and from my experience it's often the mother. I'm not trying to downplay the role of positive male role models and their impact, but what it seems like many boys are missing these days is motivation and drive, and that can come from anywhere. I don't know what it is but it just seems like girls are much better at thinking about the future and putting in the work to get where they want to be, boys often need the guidance of an adult to steer them that way, and fewer of them are getting it now.
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
You do realize that a career in the skilled trades can lead to very good pay, right? Yes, the work can be hard, and the hours sometimes long, but there are very clear paths to working independently, or for small shops/contractors that provide a nice degree of independence and good pay. I think high school kids in the U.S. should be exposed to STEM, the humanities, and the trades. We have pushed college/academic achie…
> You do realize that a career in the skilled trades can lead to very good pay, right? Only if you can start your independent business, which few can do pretty much by definition. That's still a recipe for bimodal outcomes. And the U.S. has pushed "college achievement" on paper, but their K-12 education still sucks. There's no way that this isn't a drag on college outcomes.
This isn't necessarily true. I know a wide range of folks that work in union trade positions, and they make very good money. Now, sometimes, those jobs can be unpleasant for awhile (building is behind schedule, etc, etc), but they also last a finite amount of time.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that the trades are a gravy train for everyone, but the idea that you will barely make ends meet is also not the case.
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#114Andrew Yang makes some good points in this piece, particularly about positive masculinity and role models. Whether fair or not, the perception that the left is hostile to men has driven recruitment for the far right, and that merits some reflection. But he's also really facile about underlying economic causes. It's easy to blame problems on "our culture has been broken by the wokes!", but many of the problems of youn…
As with any challenged population, blaming the victim is unfair in the majority of cases, is unproductive in finding solutions, and it creates division where it is unwarranted. But the phrase "positive masculinity" is fraught. Ease in befriending and reaching real camaraderie with women does not depend on masculinity at all. It depends on seeing others as equals. I sure don't think about masculinity and whether I'm d…
> Ease in befriending and reaching real camaraderie with women does not depend on masculinity at all. It depends on seeing others as equals.
¿Por qué no los dos? A positive worldview and mindset makes it even easier to see others as equal. The negative 'woke' mindset is hardly conducive to true equality.
> ... Jordan Peterson ...
Jordan Peterson has never thought very well of seeking "comfort and justification". He's the "clean your room and get your ducks lined up instead of blaming the world for your failure" guy. I'm not sure you're familiar with his thought.
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do many married men really want that kind of life though? It's one thing to be single and roaming the world carefree. But my observation has been that most men who are married, especially if with children, have some innate desire to provide for the family and not being able to do so (due to unemployment, underemployment, etc.) causes them stress even if the wife is earning more than enough. Those that don't seem to b…
Personally, I would love to quit working and take care of my family at home. I find much more joy in that than working a programming career. I think a lot of men have been conditioned to think we have to be the provider much like women have been conditioned to think they have to be a homemaker.
I did. It was great.
Until my children grew up and I rejoined the workforce. That has been a struggle.
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#116White, straight, male, 37 with two kids. One who is severely disabled and under the age of 5. In the past couple of years, its become clear to me that I will probably become a caretaker to my daughter at some point in my life. The prospects of keeping a full time job, in my field are quickly changing - I am no longer desired. Doing this in a financial services setting is especially stark because there's no empathy. I…
What are a terrible thing to say. I am deeply saddened by your experience and I hope you will find fulfillment somewhere else.
All the best.
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do many married men really want that kind of life though? It's one thing to be single and roaming the world carefree. But my observation has been that most men who are married, especially if with children, have some innate desire to provide for the family and not being able to do so (due to unemployment, underemployment, etc.) causes them stress even if the wife is earning more than enough. Those that don't seem to b…
I, for one, would like it, and I think I'd like it more than my wife. My personality is well suited to being a stay at home parent. I like chaos, and I like working with my hands. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of reduced-hour programming jobs, and our financial situation isn't such that one of us can be full-time stay-at-home. Another thing is that it's awkard for breast-feeding women to be away from their babies…
> Another thing is that it's awkard for breast-feeding women to be away from their babies for long times, and formula comes with its own set of problems.
True. But it is a short period.
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#118I went to a local college few days back and I noticed that there were more girls than boys. I think part of the reason is due to high college debt many young men are choosing to take jobs and skipping college all together. This will translate to less men in the knowledge based/corporate jobs.
There have been more women than men in college in the US since the 80s. It varies from college to college and from subject to subject (e.g. STEM is much more male, MIT more male, humanities-focused colleges more female).
A graph from a random internet search result: https://educationalpolicy.org/hello-world/
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#119>>Median wages for men have declined since 1990 in real terms. Roughly one-third of men are either unemployed or out of the workforce. I wonder how much of this is because more women are joining the workforce. If men are leaving the workforce by their own free will because their wife is working and they are staying home with the kids, both of these facts could be true, but seems like a win in both gender equality ter…
Do many married men really want that kind of life though? It's one thing to be single and roaming the world carefree. But my observation has been that most men who are married, especially if with children, have some innate desire to provide for the family and not being able to do so (due to unemployment, underemployment, etc.) causes them stress even if the wife is earning more than enough. Those that don't seem to b…
Regardless of gender, it seems rare that only one partner would be making more than enough to support the family. It's very difficult to make ends meet with a family on a single salary these days (without assistance; and what about saving for retirement? ).
Re: The data are clear: The boys are not all right
#120Men's comparative advantage, throughout human history, has always been their physical strength. It was the one thing a man could count on to provide value to society. That is no longer the case in our modern economy. You need intelligence, emotional intellect, and analytical skills. All of which men and women are on an equal footing at. So when you remove the ability to generate a viable income through physical labor…
Males have biological advantages in visual-spatial thinking. "Rotators vs. wordcels" is not just a weird meme.
There's a lot of speculation but it's not proven. One of the big challenges when comparing these kind of claims is that the brain is plastic so it requires extra work to figure out what percentage of the identified difference is explained by differences in what activities people engage in. Since most big studies show more variation within a group than between groups, there's good reason to question whether this is measuring anything other than social effects.
The other challenge is figuring out what activities actually have a low-level differences translate into significant advantages. There are very few job where a single low-level difference is both significant and the only path to success — in most fields, there isn't a single model of top performer.