2. The baboon brain is still alive and well.
At our worst, men are thought of as not being very advanced from baboons in our focus on sexual encounters and inability to commit to a single mate. The dirty little secret about social media is that it is driven in large part by—you guessed it—sexual content. The Huffington Post, Gawker, and any number of other supposedly thoughtful information sites drive traffic via veiled and not-so-veiled porn. The appetite for self-pleasure with electronic images is the biggest entertainment industry there is, and the web certainly is our biggest provider. In theory, social media could also lead to actual physical cheating through Match.com, the increasingly popular Facebook dating applications like AreYouInterested and WouldYouSleepWithMe, and extramarital hookup sites such as AshleyMadison.com.
But most guys just use their baboon brains to fantasize about women other than their wives or girlfriends. To each his own, but to my way of thinking, it’s pretty much the biggest waste of time going. Still, social media has greatly accelerated the addictive elements of sexual fantasy and porn.
Next Page: Obsession …
—Photo by Ross Elliot/Flickr
I’m not sure about Uncle Tom or the “Gud Myn” Project.
However, I do know that Men Are Good!
http://menaregood.com/
I read through this and understood the following: 1.) All men are uncomfortable discussing their feeling so Social Media gives them a platform. 2.) … “But most guys just use their baboon brains to fantasize about women other than their wives or girlfriends.” Really? Most guys? I’m all for debunking the myth that not everyone looks at porn, but I don’t think Social Media is the recent culprit for helping the porn industry thrive. Where are the stats on it? 3.) I know plenty of women, (hand raised!) that also are addicted to Social Media. It’s easy, it’s instant and… Read more »
What if your a man that doesn’t fit the five point bill of definition. Do we have to contend with the stereotypes and the cultural bigotry of assumption. I like to read, I don’t own a television and stopped watching about 10 years ago. Spectator sports is boring, I’d rather throw a football than watch someone else have all the fun. I own a smart phone because my 6 year old son likes it, it’s loaded with educational games and programs. He loves watching Mr. Magoo on the bus. I have never subscribed to twitter or facebook, I always felt… Read more »
I guess I’m weird, disconnected from the other dudes, and part robot, because I only identify with the sports stuff in this post. I have a very active twitter account – @TLanceB and a personal blog – http://lance-myblogcanbeatupyourblog.blogspot.com where I mostly talk about pop culture, being a dude in a house with 4 women, and how my entertainment choices reflect my mental state and parenting. There’s also some actual writing mixed in all of that. I read an editorial in USA Today a few days ago that basically ran down social media and how it “prevents” men (and women) from… Read more »
The media is filled with misandry and GMPM is no different.
“our usual caveman-like grunts”
Isn’t that right, Uncle Tom?
Just be grateful it’s a guy admitting it and not a woman claiming it.
And porn is filled with misogyny. What’s your point?
Uncle Tom is free to declare himself a caveman and a baboon. However, when he uses the broad brush of misandry to paint other men, then I find that personally insulting.
Same as calling women bitches.
I think the point is where we set the standard for degradation. Whether or not it’s necessary to institutionalize a factitious standard that should be all encompassing. You are correct porn does portray misogyny but no more than misandry. Seeing it or not would represent your working standards. Chiding someone into accepting your standards is superficial, insensitive, unintelligent, and self absorbed. But convenient. It doesn’t bode well for men who may not fit the stereotypes outlined. What I particularly appreciated from Matt is his consideration that men may be more emotionally complex than we previously believed. Porn and it’s content… Read more »
@Sarah Radford:
Wow really? This is why i don’t take women’s complaints about men derailing conversations about women seriously. Bunch of hypocrites.
Yes, tell us how much you hate us. More, more, that’s what this site is for.
That’s right, Sarah. Men are shallow, women are deep. No point in me helping my eight-year-old with her Latin. The stench is permanent and it’s only a matter of time before she figures it out. Should I jettison Virgil and just get her mother to read her “Letters From A War Zone”?
Great post! We haven’t evolved at all! We were still picking fleas off each other 20,000 years ago!
Hey Tom, kudos! My favorites and one to maybe add?.. First, my favorites, #3. and #4, and their relationship. Quick story: Super Bowl Sunday. Got the Blackberry in the toilet with me…after the deed is done, the device slips into the bowl with my makings. DILEMMA! Of course, I reach in there and grab it–it’s ruined–still washing my hands, btw–then I’m off to Verizon say, 15 minutes before kick-off, because having my phone even trumps the Big Game! Okay, and maybe one to add/a question. What does it say about me that I will let my business have a Facebook… Read more »