Sunday, February 17, 2008

"Child-Man in the Promised Land?"

I just read something that was dripping with stereotypes and half-baked opinions about single men today versus forty years ago, and I wanted to share it with you all. The article is located HERE, so go there, give it a read (it'll only take a couple of minutes), and then hop on back over and let us know what you think in the comment section.

The article in question begins by implying that the average 26-year-old male in the sixties was married with children, owned a house, et. al., and the average 26-year-old male nowadays is single, lives in an apartment with his buddies, and whores around. Further down the article, a census stat is cherry-picked to prove her point. Gee, how scientific! It sounded more to me like the author had a bad experience on a blind date, and decided to take it out on an entire generation of men.

Multiple facts have been lost or wasted on the author. The 'traditional' roles of men and women has changed DRASTICALLY in the West in the last 40 years. Does she want to be barefoot and pregnant, chained to the stove in the kitchen? Also, the rise and improvement of technology has had a profound effect on the amount of free time we have. We can now work smarter, not harder or longer, and our standard of living has increased tenfold. The author makes multiple references to technology in her article, but only infers that it's all used for entertainment. How much time does e-mail and MS Office save us in the workplace?

My biggest problem with the article is the assumptions that are made. It's similar to the argument the anti-video game lobby makes about violent games and its influence on people's views of the world. And yet, they forget that violence is already part of human nature. Of course, I could name thousands of examples, but I'll just go back a long fucking time ago and say, 'Did Cain play Grand Theft Auto?' No one knew back then knew what the fuck an 'auto' was, much less a video game.

My point is, just as there have always been violent crimes, there will always be bachelors. The increase of leisure time due to improvements in technology isn't going to change that. The Rat Pack existed long before Pong. If they were alive and thriving in this decade, would they be spending less time whoring and boozing around, and more time on Xbox Live?

2 comments:

Pitpat said...

This average 26 year old lives in an extra room at the angrymidget's house, not in an apartment with his buddies. This lady couldn't be more wrong.

Ryan the Angry Midget said...

The whole concept is based on the idea that for whatever reason having a kid when you're 26 is somehow better than not. The idea that the past is somehow more wholesome or morally right is fundamentally flawed. The same things were going on then that are now, we are just able to talk about them.