The fact that there are brain dead misogynists ranting on the internet and a societal issue of loneliness aren't connected and its bullshit to try and make that connection.

There's a male loneliness epidemic. And everyone who denies, mock it or victim blame on it is a terrible human being. IMHO people who suffer is not to make fun of. Empathy must be the basis for any moral system.

We can discuss the causes and solutions to it all day long. But sadly is such a politicized theme that agenda will come before any rational analysis. And that just saddens me. Because lots of people out there needs help, needs society to be better, and others just decide to bully them.

This is a prime example of the fallacy fallacy, and maybe also ad hominem.

The fact that someone says ridiculous things like "women are dishwashers", doesn't mean that their thesis "there is a male loneliness epidemic", is incorrect. Additionally, if their arguments are completely wrong, it doesn't automatically mean their thesis is wrong.

Furthermore, I personally do think that there's a male loneliness epidemic. While people like Andrew Tate are definitely having a bad influence, we should think, "why are these people popular? What draws young men to listen to misogynists?". And the reason (I think), is because young men are simply neglected by society, and are generally quite lonely. As a young man myself, I think it is actually kind of hard to make friends. Other men expect me to be "masculine" (aka, be an asshole, be tough, etc.) and simultaneously I'm very reluctant to make friends with women, because I'm kind of scared of falsely being accused of sexual harassment.

I feel like if I say or do the wrong thing (which excludes physically harassing someone), there's a risk of a woman completely ruining my life by simply accusing me of harassing her. And while the accusation might not become a proper conviction (or even prosecution), the accusation itself is already incredibly harmful for my reputation.

So to avoid that altogether, I simply avoid women in general. Or at least, I don't approach them. I don't talk to them, unless they talk to me first. Because if I make the wrong move, if I look at them the wrong way, my life might already be over.

Does this mean I hate women? No. It simply means I hate how people immediately jump to conclusions when they read "man accused of harassing a woman". Personally, when I read that headline, I don't immediately think less of that man, unless he's been found guilty of it.

Does this make me an incel? I don't really know; I don't think I'm owed sex in any way, and I don't think women inherently hate me the moment they see me. I do wish I could have a more feminine friend circle, because it's currently all men. But yeah, I think things are kinda fucked up right now, but simultaneously I honestly don't really know what I (or we as a society) could do to fix this.

It wasn't men (or COVID ) that gave rise to the term "loneliness epidemic". This issue is older than you realize. I lived through this, I would say mid 2010s this issue was being discussed (but only occasionally) based on men isolating in the late 00s, early 2010s and/or killing themselves. Deaths of despair & such. "Male loneliness epidemic", "loneliness epidemic" were solidly PRE-COVID TERMS coined by the researches studying these men. Men were "doing the thing", it was prevalent enough to get noticed, and they're like hey, this is weird, this is happening a lot. It's an epidemic.

This is a 2017 Harvard blog post...article...thing. 'The power and prevalence of loneliness'. It mainly deals with old people but especially concerns men. While I don't see the term in the article itself, it popped in a search as: "The epidemic — and health dangers — of loneliness".

This is a 2018 article from Church Leaders (lol), "The Epidemic of Male Loneliness". Basically word for word.

Psych Central Dec 2017, epidemic of male loneliness

The Walrus, 2018, epidemic of isolation among young men

Stanford, 2017, Loneliness Epidemic talking about men

April 2018, male loneliness epidemic

March 2017, HuffPost

March 2015

December 2017

Etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc....etc. Just do a web search specifying article dates & you will find a plethora of male loneliness epidemic articles well predating the start of teh covidz.

I think woke mind virus is more modern, probably making the scene during Trump's first term somehow. I can't quite remember.

I would argue terms like "epidemic" & "pandemic" are simply building on older terms used to describe social phenomena. Like "fever" has been used in that context forever.

It may not be a "loneliness epidemic" (at least not only for men) but imho there certainly is an issue with men having a hard time finding a positive relationship to their gender, and loneliness probably does play some part in it.

The MRA types think that men are owed affection, companionship, and love. And society must change (revert) to accommodate them. So in that since, "male loneliness" is a stalking horse for loss of status and a return to traditional gender rolls. The radicals in this movement just wanna go back farther. To the 50s! The seventeen fifties.

But even if your not a chud, individualism and alienation have created a circumstance where forming and maintaining human relationships isn't valued or supported. And men suffer more because they lack the institutional support of feminism.

Women got Judith Butler to tell them that gender was something they owned and controlled. Men got Jordan Peterson to tell them that gender is a prison and if women don't get back in their cells, we're all doomed.

That's a stunningly good picture of Jordan Peterson. Usually he looks like a piece of very well used chamois cloth.

If only they could listen to feminists and see the actual (self-imposed) problem

Same except instead of hating everything its literally because I'm not a dude and straight ladies saw it before I did lmao.

You'd think the fact that every girl I've fucked around with has been queer in some way would've been a hint.

lonely mess epidemic

I'm stealing this so hard

I'd open a sentō if the government were giving me money but good luck convincing American men that it's not gay