this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
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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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[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 19 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Remember the wired earpiece guy? Guy holds up a finger and holds his other hand to his ear: "Yea sorry I gotta take this."

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I still fucking hate those devices because some of the most insufferable douches that got me in trouble because they "had to take this" were distracted by them while waddling to the front of the line. I used to call them "ear fedoras" because of how obnoxious they were.

[–] IzyaKatzmann@hexbear.net 9 points 1 month ago

bad vibes all around