99 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
I think the "male loneliness epidemic" has a bit to do with public perception. Loneliness in men is often used interchangably with being desperately single, whereas the feeling of loneliness is a much boarder term. If you separate loneliness into "feeling lonely due to lack of a romantic partner" and "other", I think you'll find this much more in common with men, than it is with women. For many different factors.
1. A lot of men derive their own sources of social interaction, emotional support, as well as sense of well being from their partner. There's plenty of studies showing this, as well as writings on how women take up the brunt of emotional labor in society, and studies showing that women typically have more close friends than men.
2. Social perception of women for romantic relationships in todays world is that if a woman is "lonely" and wants a relationship, there are a mountain of men waiting to entertain them, whereas what I hear from women is the lack of respectfulness and genuineness they get from their dates. The perception is that men just want companionship of any type, whereas women struggle to find quality companionship. Some view this difference in mentality as a problem for men, and relatively, a privilege or entitlement for women, as a plea for diverting more help towards men. Realistically, loneliness is something we should mitigate for both sexes. I think that if men were to have an equal ease of getting responses, they too will begin to yearn for a higher quality of relationships as well.
3. Young men are far more likely to be single than young women. Older women are more likely to be widowed than men. This is most easily explained by how women have longer life expectancy, and how men are most likely older than the women they marry. When we think of the loneliness epidemic, we mostly apply this to the young generation, and don't take into account the loneliness felt by our elders. Amongst young people, there certainly is a gap between men and women in terms of who is more likely to have a partner.
Comment by meat_tunnel at 14/02/2025 at 21:53 UTC
65 upvotes, 7 direct replies
Realistically, loneliness is something we should mitigate for both sexes. I think that if men were to have an equal ease of getting responses, they too will begin to yearn for a higher quality of relationships as well.
I hope I'm not stepping on any toes by replying here. But the general consensus in the women-oriented social media spaces I frequent is that men need to provide that equal access to one another. Women are not going to divert their help towards men, they are not going to create those spaces or experiences for men, the social activities, group functions, the time and energy it takes to cultivate safe spaces. Men will get an equal ease of response when they start providing it to one another, the same way women have stepped up for other women.
Comment by GraveRoller at 14/02/2025 at 20:44 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
If you separate loneliness into "feeling lonely due to lack of a romantic partner" and "other", I think you'll find this much more in common with men, than it is with women. For
On one hand I’m inclined to agree. On the other hand…and what? Dating is fundamentally a selfish endeavor. Let’s pretend that there’s zero victim-blaming and just world fallacious thinking in regards to single men for the sake of this discussion. It’s impossible to not cede all ground about the emotions on this topic to those who are angrier and more passionate on this topic and want to blame women.
So imo it’s not that I think you’re wrong, but it’s such a non-starter of a conversation unless you’re willing to acknowledge and admit that there is a preference for certain traditional norms. Which I am, but the route the tangential thinking goes towards doesn’t necessarily jive with some.