> Speaking personally, I think it is at least as interesting to ask why some men [0] are not affected much by the sorts of stuff you mention above as why others

> Speaking personally, I think it is at least as interesting to ask why some men [0] are not affected much by the sorts of stuff you mention above as why others are so affected. I think some or all of these following things would push one in the right direction of the cause: - Men are not urged in any way to develop social skills while growing up; such things are solely the domain of women and girls. Speaking your feelings is girly. Resolving conflicts in non-violent ways is girly. This results in a lifetime of sub-optimal social operation and thus a lifetime of lesser-or-un-met social needs. Men often post online about craving affection, sexual or otherwise, but lack the vocabulary to ask for it, if they even have relationships in their lives that would connect them with the people they need to ask. - In fact, quite the opposite, boys are socialized to scrabble and fight over everything: feminine attention, social status, access to scarce resources, all can prompt fights in schools, on busses, etc. When bullies would steal my lunch as a kiddo, my dad encouraged me to fight them, because you can't simply ask a young boy to not harm another young boy; you have to prove yourself threatening to that boy, so he will pick on someone else who is less so. And like, credit where due, his advice worked, even if it costed me a tiny piece of my humanity. - Many man-centered hobbies also require money, which pushes men and boys into employment earlier than their female counterparts. The act of earning money itself is highly masculine; the "breadwinner" is the husband, it's a trope for a reason. Even decades after women have entered the workforce in a big way, and a single-income household is all but a fantasy for the upper middle class and above, this still holds. And this one isn't even just enforced by men: women, rightfully so due to economic pressures, demand a man earn his keep too in order to be even considered relationship material. And like... again, she's right to, because single income households are practically unheard of these days.