7 ms·

It's interesting that left leaning people are worried less about boys in general, but when it comes to their own sons, are more worried about boys. I suspect th

It's interesting that left leaning people are worried less about boys in general, but when it comes to their own sons, are more worried about boys. I suspect that this has something to do with gender politics, which most prominently falls within the sphere of the left wing, predominantly focusing on issues affecting women. It makes sense that if you're tuned into spheres primarily amplifying issues impacting women, and not men, that you would assume that your own son's issues aren't necessarily representative of the population at large. Over 60% of college graduates are women, and up until the age that many women choose to have a family (early 30s), women actually out-earn men. There's nothing wrong with either of those things, but certain models in our collective understanding of society need to be more cognizant of these facts, among others. People that speak about the problems with the way we conceptualize gender issues, people like Warren Farrell, Karen Straughan, Janice Fiamengo, and Christina Hoff-Sommers, actually face an embarrassing amount of vitriol from institutions, when invited to speak on these topics.

jimmygrapes 6y ago
I listen to NPR a lot while driving. For several years now, I have been keeping a sort of mental rally of the topics discussed, after noticing a trend. At least 9 out of 10 segments (other than news or programs like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me) are about women, black, or homosexual success/suffering. For a straight white male there is only education of others; there is no real sense of sympathy, only empathy. I wonder what effects this may have in the long term.
- distant_hat 6y ago
  The audience of NPR is fairly small, there's a lot of other channels that cater to white males.
  - ikt 6y ago
    The same is for the ABC in Australia and BBC in the UK. His comment resonated strongly with me.
    - claudiawerner 6y ago
      I frequently listen to BBC radio, and it doesn't resonate with me. To be sure there are many non-male and non-white and non-hetero voices, but they are by no means the majority. If you take out the male requirement, the number becomes even smaller. Two days ago BBC radio 4 was broadcasting a discussion on literature. It had three men and two women, withe a male organizer. After that was the news told by a white woman. Then there was a segment on songwriting for musicals for the stage, given by a (presumably straight) older white man. There is (sometimes) a "women's hour", but the fact that such a thing should show at least that male voices are at least slightly the norm. I couldn't tell the race of the callers (and never mind their sexuality when a partner was not mentioned), but there were male voices there too. Could it be that we just notice non-(white, male, hetero) voices more when they come on, and assume that white, male, and hetero is the "default"?
      - edbob 6y ago
        jimmygrapes was referring to the topics discussed, not the identity of the speakers.
        claudiawerner 6y ago
        And I have doubts there too. Wouldn't it make sense, though? The news is not obliged to only cover issues relating to the majority, but society as a whole, and there are more people who are not (white && straight && male) than are. Granted, that's mostly because of the 'male' part. In what category does a discussion on literature or philosophy fit? (white && straight && male) or !(white && straight && male)? How about new Apple devices? Tech jobs? Which subgroups of the population are hardest hit by the pandemic? I have a suspicion that the majority of the content covered on mainstream radio is actually gender, orientation, and race agnostic.
      - ikt 6y ago
        I appreciate you replying in a non-hostile way. I was thinking more the stories, I guess it's optics, my news is now feels like it's filled with "man bad, woman/minority strong" https://imgur.com/eTSi7g5 https://imgur.com/eTSi7g5 https://imgur.com/avshrtK https://imgur.com/avshrtK Compared to what was previously on the homepage: https://imgur.com/tXKpnMZ https://imgur.com/tXKpnMZ It feels like my homepage used to be news, now it it's more heavily biased towards minorities and women. I'm honestly burnt out on reading about women and minorities being victims and men being bad, I want to go back to reading stories about things. I guess it bothers me and maybe I'm picking up on background radiation as to why 'that guy' got into power despite me feeling like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gRAQUmskI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gRAQUmskI
  - throwawydedbee 6y ago
    It's not about "catering to"; it's about not omitting. And for someone who has listened to, donated to, and loved NPR as a source of neutral (if a bit left-leaning) news and commentary for decades, it's a very disheartening development. All of our reasonably neutral information sources are going away, and we're left to sift through what's left for ourselves.
- richliss 6y ago
  The Japanisation of white young men - hikikomori will become far more frequent I believe. They will descend into junk food, video games, porn, YouTube and depression and either no job or jobs they hate.
  - nickpp 6y ago
    Don’t forget drugs - to numb the brain and treat that depression.
- refurb 6y ago
  This is one important aspect of media bias. It’s not just how you cover events, it’s what you choose to cover. The media basically defines the content of “what are the important issues today”.
mellosouls 6y ago
It's frustrating and unproductive to see an intelligent comment immediately down-voted, presumably demonstrating the truth of the kneejerk vitriol claim. The comment (and others here pressing for a more nuanced or possibly even contra-feminist perspective) may be wrong but counterpoints would be more useful in challenging them than a quick fade to grey which indicates (when repeated over several different contributors) that perhaps there is some significant - if unpopular - thread to be further investigated by the independently minded.
dgudkov 6y ago
>It's interesting that left leaning people are worried less about boys in general, but when it comes to their own sons, are more worried about boys. Apparently, having "skin in the game" changes priorities. Or reveals them.

jimmygrapes 6y ago

I listen to NPR a lot while driving. For several years now, I have been keeping a sort of mental rally of the topics discussed, after noticing a trend. At least 9 out of 10 segments (other than news or programs like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me) are about women, black, or homosexual success/suffering. For a straight white male there is only education of others; there is no real sense of sympathy, only empathy. I wonder what effects this may have in the long term.

distant_hat 6y ago
The audience of NPR is fairly small, there's a lot of other channels that cater to white males.
- ikt 6y ago
  The same is for the ABC in Australia and BBC in the UK. His comment resonated strongly with me.
  - claudiawerner 6y ago
    I frequently listen to BBC radio, and it doesn't resonate with me. To be sure there are many non-male and non-white and non-hetero voices, but they are by no means the majority. If you take out the male requirement, the number becomes even smaller. Two days ago BBC radio 4 was broadcasting a discussion on literature. It had three men and two women, withe a male organizer. After that was the news told by a white woman. Then there was a segment on songwriting for musicals for the stage, given by a (presumably straight) older white man. There is (sometimes) a "women's hour", but the fact that such a thing should show at least that male voices are at least slightly the norm. I couldn't tell the race of the callers (and never mind their sexuality when a partner was not mentioned), but there were male voices there too. Could it be that we just notice non-(white, male, hetero) voices more when they come on, and assume that white, male, and hetero is the "default"?
    - edbob 6y ago
      jimmygrapes was referring to the topics discussed, not the identity of the speakers.
      - claudiawerner 6y ago
        And I have doubts there too. Wouldn't it make sense, though? The news is not obliged to only cover issues relating to the majority, but society as a whole, and there are more people who are not (white && straight && male) than are. Granted, that's mostly because of the 'male' part. In what category does a discussion on literature or philosophy fit? (white && straight && male) or !(white && straight && male)? How about new Apple devices? Tech jobs? Which subgroups of the population are hardest hit by the pandemic? I have a suspicion that the majority of the content covered on mainstream radio is actually gender, orientation, and race agnostic.
    - ikt 6y ago
      I appreciate you replying in a non-hostile way. I was thinking more the stories, I guess it's optics, my news is now feels like it's filled with "man bad, woman/minority strong" https://imgur.com/eTSi7g5 https://imgur.com/eTSi7g5 https://imgur.com/avshrtK https://imgur.com/avshrtK Compared to what was previously on the homepage: https://imgur.com/tXKpnMZ https://imgur.com/tXKpnMZ It feels like my homepage used to be news, now it it's more heavily biased towards minorities and women. I'm honestly burnt out on reading about women and minorities being victims and men being bad, I want to go back to reading stories about things. I guess it bothers me and maybe I'm picking up on background radiation as to why 'that guy' got into power despite me feeling like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gRAQUmskI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gRAQUmskI
- throwawydedbee 6y ago
  It's not about "catering to"; it's about not omitting. And for someone who has listened to, donated to, and loved NPR as a source of neutral (if a bit left-leaning) news and commentary for decades, it's a very disheartening development. All of our reasonably neutral information sources are going away, and we're left to sift through what's left for ourselves.
richliss 6y ago
The Japanisation of white young men - hikikomori will become far more frequent I believe. They will descend into junk food, video games, porn, YouTube and depression and either no job or jobs they hate.
- nickpp 6y ago
  Don’t forget drugs - to numb the brain and treat that depression.
refurb 6y ago
This is one important aspect of media bias. It’s not just how you cover events, it’s what you choose to cover. The media basically defines the content of “what are the important issues today”.

mellosouls 6y ago

It's frustrating and unproductive to see an intelligent comment immediately down-voted, presumably demonstrating the truth of the kneejerk vitriol claim. The comment (and others here pressing for a more nuanced or possibly even contra-feminist perspective) may be wrong but counterpoints would be more useful in challenging them than a quick fade to grey which indicates (when repeated over several different contributors) that perhaps there is some significant - if unpopular - thread to be further investigated by the independently minded.

dgudkov 6y ago

>It's interesting that left leaning people are worried less about boys in general, but when it comes to their own sons, are more worried about boys. Apparently, having "skin in the game" changes priorities. Or reveals them.