pizza_the_hutt

joined 1 year ago
[–] pizza_the_hutt 183 points 2 weeks ago (45 children)

There is a lot to be said here. I'll use my own experience as an example.

I'm a millennial male who had a terrible time as a young adult through my mid 30s. I grew up in a fairly religious/conservative area of the US, and I didn't have the ability to even start questioning that before my college years because literally everyone I knew was either a vocal supporter of or tacitly accepted that cultural status quo. Mental health issues were either not discussed or not recognized in any serious fashion. It wasn't until my late 20s that I finally understood that I had severe depression and anxiety and sought help, despite suffering from it since my early teenage years.

Socially, I never felt like I was cool enough or good enough. I didn't understand women, and the endless series of rejections and confusing encounters only served to erode my low self confidence further. I had no idea what a healthy relationship looked like because my parents were just going through the motions at that point, and the relationships I saw in TV shows and movies were incredibly shallow. The few people I considered friends did not support me in any positive way. I eventually kicked them to the curb, preferring solitude to being the butt of their jokes.

I was a prime target for recruitment for the alt-right: depressed, alone, disaffected, and ready to lash out. The only thing that kept me from going in that direction was a keen sense that the rhetoric was bullshit and its leaders only cared to take advantage of the rank-and-file to accumulate money and power. Many people I knew were not so perceptive and became victims of that movement.

My only saving grace was that I had a decent job with healthcare benefits, which allowed me to get the therapy I needed to overcome these challenges. Again, most people I knew did not have such resources. Nearly a decade later, I am now a family man with a wife and child. I am far happier than I have been at any other point in my life. Despite that, there is still plenty I don't understand. I don't have a good grasp of what positive masculinity looks like. I cannot point to anyone who has served as a good, male role-model in my life. I still don't have any close male friends with whom I can share my feelings and challenges.

However, I do understand how easily young men can be swayed to far-right crusades. Social media warped my view of reality, and it's far worse now than it was 10-15 years ago. Moreover, there is no alternative to far-right echo chambers for young men to commiserate and get help. Those spaces simply do not exist on the left. If you dare to complain or vent, you will immediately be told your problems don't matter and called a misogynist. I can readily call multiple conversations I had with liberals and feminists who rejected my problems, even being told that I was "living life on easy mode" because I was a man.

For all the women who are reading this, I get it. As a man, I don't have to worry about the government meddling in my bodily autonomy. For the most part, I don't have to worry about walking alone at night or being accosted or raped. I don't have to worry about being taking seriously at my job or being passed over for promotions because of my gender. However, none of that negates the challenges that young men are facing. Their gender does not save them from broken homes, abuse, mental health issues, a bad job market, degrading standards of living, student debt, double-standards, confusing and contradictory narratives surrounding dating and relationships, etc. Yes, privileged men with no right to complain do exist, but they are an extreme minority. The vast majority of young men are in a bad place, and the only people reaching out to help have ulterior motives. If you want things to change, try having some empathy. Maybe you will get empathy for your problems in return.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 3 points 2 weeks ago (15 children)

This. There's little point in seeing most films in a theater when they will be streaming a few months later.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Should I play Scarlet Hollow now or wait until it's complete?

[–] pizza_the_hutt 33 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

I highly recommend this game, even if, like me, you're not a fan of text/dating Sim type games. It's a strange horror/dark fantasy type of game with a lot of heart.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 12 points 1 month ago (5 children)

One of the best shows no one is talking about. If you have Apple TV, don't sit on this. If not, it's worth subscribing for a month to binge this show (and Severance as well).

[–] pizza_the_hutt 15 points 1 month ago

You have every right to express your feelings. If she is unable or unwilling to accept that, then you two need to go to couples counseling. If she doesn't want to do that, then it's time to consider divorce. Life is too short to spend it with someone who doesn't appreciate you. It's one thing to weather foul moods from time to time, but it's another thing to be disrespected and emotionally abused. I don't care how bad menopause is. It simply isn't acceptable to abuse your loved ones. She needs to recognize this and do every thing in her power to correct this behavior, including finding a good OBGYN and getting the necessary hormone treatments.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 6 points 2 months ago

Both. The people who promote Rust can be very annoying. They trumpet Rust's memory safety while turning a blind eye to any problems with the language, let alone the effort required to rewrite a large system and all the bugs such a rewrite will introduce.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Have you tried manually entering the URL for the server?

[–] pizza_the_hutt 4 points 2 months ago

Let me know when the "left" tries to take away women's bodily autonomy, significantly weakens unions, makes child marriage OK, makes child labor in dangerous conditions legal, or tries to overthrow the government. Last time I checked, only conservatives supported all of the above.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 8 points 2 months ago

What a great game!

[–] pizza_the_hutt 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The ending is pretty good.

[–] pizza_the_hutt 31 points 3 months ago (5 children)

This. People who think that the Republican party has been honorable in recent memory haven't been paying attention. There have been honorable Republicans in my lifetime like John McCain, but the party as a whole has been little more than a cabal of grifters appealing to the worst parts of us with the sole purpose of enriching themselves and punishing the "other" in sociopathic glee. Trump didn't start this. He just pulled off the mask and made it OK to speak and act openly.

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