Porn and ‘too many female teachers’ cause major masculinity crisis, says psychologist

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Meet Dr. Philip Zimbardo. The psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University is very concerned about a very serious epidemic that is sweeping the nation, crippling our young men and affecting their social and sexual development.

According to el doctor, he conducted a study of 20,000 young people, 75% of them male, and concluded that too much online porn and video games is causing a “masculinity crisis.” These young men are retreating from the real world and isolating themselves into an online world full of World of Warcraft and free internet porn. Apparently the study was the basis for his new book Man (Dis)connected: How Technology Has Sabotaged What It Means To Be Male.

On the surface, that sounds plausible. Young men are spending increasingly high amounts of time online and it’s somewhat stunting their ability to properly function socially offline. I’ve subjected myself to enough online dating to witness the increasing ineptitude straight men display when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex. But after digging a little deeper and doing something that resembles journalism, it seems that Zimbardo isn’t just blaming online porn and video games for the potential future downfall of heterosexual men — he’s added too many female school teachers, too many absent fathers, and the fear of female rejection for creating “sexual singularity” in our young, straight men.

Zimbardo is hardly the first person to make mention of the term “sexual singularity,” but it’s not exactly clear if he truly understands how and what that concept actually means. The notion of singularity has been long discussed within the transhumanism and artificial intelligence communities. Singularity more or less refers to our continued evolution towards and with technology, eventually resulting in a “merger” of humans and machines. So for example, if you’ve ever watched the newer Battlestar Galactica (if not, I have no use for you), then Cylons are essentially a very advanced result of singularity. Sexual singularity refers to virtual reality sex; think the weird scene in Demolition Man between Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone. Sexy, right?

But Zimbardo doesn’t claim that our dependence on AI or our advancements in technology or robotics are what’s hurting our straight men, more specifically straight white men; it’s being raised in a predominantly female environment and having to further face possible female rejection that’s causing straight, white men to become “herbivorous men.” Last time I checked, herbivorous meant “plant eating,” so apparently women are turning men into vegetarians, too. So I guess that means not eating meat is part of the masculinity crisis?

He goes on to draw a parallel between the lack of fathers in black communities resulting in the “poor performance” of young black men, stating that 60-70% of them grow up without fathers. Zimbardo must not read the news because studies actually show that black men who don’t live with their kids spend more time with them than their white or Hispanic counterparts. That doesn’t really matter to him though. He’s only concerned now that the poor, straight white boys are suffering a similar, albeit imagined, fates thanks to too much Xbox and porn.

On one hand, Zimbardo’s claim that too much porn causes erectile dysfunction is legit; studies have found a link between chronic porn consumption and performance issues for years. But it’s not just the amount of porn one watches. Other factors like watching mostly hardcore porn can desensitize men in real-life scenarios — making it harder for them to get hard. So you don’t have to give up watching RedTube on your cellphones and jerking it in the bathroom stall at work just yet, fellas.

On the other hand, Zimbardo is pushing seriously outdated and narrow-minded tropes. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but this asshole is a doctor. And, even though he’s old and starting to sound like a sexist technophobe who’s seriously out of touch with reality, his credentials mean that someone is bound to take him seriously and start buying into the bullshit that American women are causing the emasculation of straight, white men. Spoiler alert: They’re not.

At the end of the day, Zimbardo’s whole theory sounds like a watered-down version of the MRA ethos. Just because women are getting more seats at the table doesn’t mean we banned men from sitting with us. It’s called “an equal playing field,” kids, and if you don’t have what it takes then stop looking for the first pair of ovaries to blame for your inadequacies. Basically, nut up or shut up.

Of course Philip Zimbardo does have a recommendation that may help stop this phenomenon from sweeping the planet; boys should take dance class. He believes that dancing will help them be more popular with the ladies and be more confident overall. Clearly homeboy has never heard of Dance Dance Revolution.

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