12 upvotes, 0 direct replies (showing 0)
I'm confused at your framing. You linked an article that shows men today as having a *1.5x* higher rate of having no close friends when compared to women, and a 5x increase of that situation since 1990. Lower rates at all levels for friendship numbers. Men not using or having support networks.
That is both significant evidence towards there being a general loneliness problem, and evidence that it is gendered, and getting worse. The definition of "epidemic" aside I'm confused at the skepticism.
it seems like "male loneliness epidemic" has become somewhat of a joke in some circles
Being charitable the "joke" is often about how misogynistic/toxic/hypocritical people who bring attention to the issue can be. For those who genuinely are mocking the concept that says a lot more about those circles than it does the issue.
There's nothing here!