Have We Raised An Entire Generation Of Young Men That Do Not Know How To Be Men?

First of all, what is the definition of being a "man"?

What filter is the author using while writing this tome? How old is he?

I have serious issues with most of this article. Questions that come to mind:
1) Is it generational?
2) Is it cultural?
3) Is it something to do with the fact that we have become a society dominated by multi-media vs. personal interaction? (The Hangover comes to mind)

And why did the author feel there was a reason for the disclaimer about women?

By the way, whoever wrote this article is a moron. If you need sweeping generalizations and blanket statements to make your point you are probably worse then those you claim to have pigeonholed.

Your assigning blame in the wrong place. The headline should read "Did the Entire Baby Boom Generation totally fail at parenting?"

They have grown up privileged and coddled and they act accordingly.

I would argue that this is an entire generation problem and not just men.

Look, my generation was told to go to college and get a decent job except now that we went to college there are no longer decent jobs. So we then have to work two part time jobs barely making above minimum wage just to kind of get by. We then either have to live with our parents or live with multiple room mates in the same situation. This generation is in that state of limbo until we can get career jobs that can afford for us to have our own places and good job security. Because there is no current stability in the work environment we're not able to plunge forward into the rest of our lives.

Worst economic situation since the 20's or 30's....

Only 47% of working aged adults have a full time job, the gap in wages is larger than ever, and inflation has compounded the low wage situation to the point of virtual slavery in the majority of jobs....

We have less rights, less freedoms, and are demanded to surrender more in the name of; "The war on terror"..... We don't even have say over our own bodies... I mean sure a woman can legally have an abortion (A "right" I'm not disputing), but a grown anyone can't posses/consume a little marijuana?

Do you want to talk about fuct up, because that isn't the half of it......

So what is being a "man" in our culture...? Submitting to debt and wage slavery in order to try to take care of a family? Perpetuating a broke down system? Being "patriotic" and going overseas to kill solely for violent capitalistic gains?

Just wtf is a "man"?...... Because what the media, what your war veteran neighbors push on you, what the T.V. tells you to do, what we're lead to believe by pop culture means "being a man" is generally BULLSHIT as is......

I tell you what a man is....

A man is someone willing to work to gain things of value, things of values in all aspects of life; physical, spiritual, psychological (not just trivial shit, electronic gadgets, drugs, etc.).... Not work to maintain a grip on his indulgent spending and credit card debts....

A man is someone who knows that the majority of things and people out there are just wanting to control you, or take your money....

A man is someone like Terence McKenna, who knows; "Culture is not your friend"

A man is someone who loves without expecting anything in return, and is always grateful when it is returned....

A man is someone who would give you the shirt off his back, or share his last little bit of whatever should he find himself and other in a bad situation....

A man is someone who seeks to make his and the lives of those around him easier in whichever capacity he can....

So.... Not having a regular "job" doesn't make some less of a man.....

You judge somebody by what they'd be worth if they had nothing, not what they're worth with a pocket or bank account full of money.....

Yeah laying around like an overgrown teenager depending on your parent or grandparents when you have more options... Not very manly....

I guess men are few and far between up to a certain age.... But look at society, societal conditions, the brainwashing of pop-culture.... Mommy and daddy weren't there anyway they became debt slaves and left the T.V. to do the raising......

Break the cycle....

If you're not the entrepreneurial kill at all costs and take no prisoners type, the Republic Syndicate has no use for you.

So, if you can't "Kill" on command from Kochs et al, you're not a real man.

Some of what was in the article is probably true, but even a cursory look at the supporting evidence from CNN indicates both genders have seen increases in the return home rate over the past 6 years...nothing conclusive here since we have no data except that one snapshot...is this a new trend?... how about over 20-30 years?...maybe these numbers aren't so out of the norm...and drawing huge generalizations from sketchy data doesn't help the argument.

"Men that are between 25 and 34 should be in their prime working years. Instead, almost one out of every five of them is living with mommy and daddy." And then: "This is a major problem. Rather than working hard, taking responsibility and building their own lives..."

The conclusion that young men are essentially a bunch of losers who sit around watching TV and generally vegging comes from the data above? That is about as non-sequitur as it can be.

"Should be in their prime working years...Instead...living with mommy and daddy"? And what's with the mommy and daddy language? Sounds like a young woman grinding an axe.

This reads like a poorly conceived rant based on superficial evidence by someone who knows little about the dynamics of the world in which both young men and young women are struggling today.

What "should" be the case may have applied in the day, but there are many more factors that determine why the data reads as it does than this article would lead a reader to believe.

BTW: Whether young men go to college or graduate if they do, is not a benchmark to measure someone's ambition or ability, that is also a logical fallacy.

OWS is in the streets for a multitude of just causes, many of which have a direct influence on the phenomenon that this author is trying to analyze by looking at a only couple of sets of data.

I'm not sure this makes sense, but its the best I can do right now...

Remedy...

Read...

Men and the Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of Men by Michael Meade
http://www.amazon.com/Men-Water-Life-Initiation-Tempering/dp/0062507265/ref=sr_1...

King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore
http://www.amazon.com/King-Warrior-Magician-Lover-Rediscovering/dp/0062506064/re...

The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire by David Deida
http://www.amazon.com/Way-Superior-Man-Spiritual-Challenges/dp/1591792576/ref=sr...

A very wise woman once said "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle."

And this proves it. Women can handle society.

In response to the poster below, there is no defined role for men because men are no longer needed. They can go out and get drunk with their man-child friends, play pinball and collect unemployment. That's all they're good at.

There's a crisis of masculinity going on this country right now. I don't think many boys really know what it's like to be a man. There are several reasons for this, but the first and most obvious thing to point out is we live in a society where, for generations now, around half of the boys growing up either have no father figure, or only see their dad once in a while. I'm not saying this is anyone's fault, and I'm not criticizing divorce or children born out of wedlock, just stating a pretty obvious fact. This fact also explains why young women are so independent, because they see mom doing it all on her own.

I also think the problem gets doubled-down because a lot of mothers feel especially bad for their fatherless sons, so they go easier on them. Thus they are more likely to pick up their sons' slack and make excuses for them. And they continue to wipe their metaphorical asses well into college (if they go).

I also think there is no longer a strong definition of what a "real" man is anymore. There's the pro wrestler definition of being all muscular and ready to fight to solve any problems. But guys who are like that in real life are assholes. The whole "head of the family" thing is now considered to be awfully chauvinistic. The fat, lazy, stupid guy married to the overly tolerant and way too attractive wife that seems so popular on sitcoms (and cartoons) is a gross distortion of reality.

It seems like the expectations for women are many and are placed in clearly defined roles. Mother, sex expert in the bedroom, career woman, cook, maid, etc. (I'm not saying this is right or fair). But the current role of a man isn't so well defined. He should be responsible and provide for his family, and he should do a lot of the other things that are now expected of women, but a lot of the traditional male roles have largely been antiquated leaving generations of men to figure out their roles on their own.

My husband and I see this so often not only at our fave bar, but in today's culture across the board. The bar we go to seems to be a microcosm of today's gender roles. You see 90% of the guys who walk into the bar dressed in some form of sports uniform (whether it's in season or not), poorly groomed and are basically social misfits. 90% of the women are clearly the dominant gender. They spend most of their time entertaining EACH OTHER than interacting with the males present. The males are spectators to the spectacle, which includes more flirtatious activity amongst the women themselves than with the opposite sex. It always looks like the males are wondering "why are we here?" There has been a collective emasculation of the male population. Movies and TV do show the male characters as under-achievers who need a woman to survive. I don't know the last time I saw a strong male character on TV or the big screen. There is a book out now called "Manning Up" about this very subject. But also a book from 2000 by Susan Faludi called "Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man" that also covers the reasons behind the downfall of masculinity.

"Today, young adult men are nearly twice as likely to live with their parents as young adult women are, and young adult men are much less likely to go to college than young adult women are."

I very much resemble this. Only I went college and dropped out halfway through my third year. Wasn't learning anything useful.

I did perfect the art of making a gravity bong though.

Also screw living with B***hes. Females are wacky as hell these days. Love boning them but never would want to live with a chick. And if you've seen how females are these days it's really their problem.

Man, we've raised more than a generation of people who no longer are capable of independent and critical thought. We are truly a nation of sheep begetting a government of wolves. Perhaps it's time for the whole system to collapse, so folks are reminded of what it takes to maintain a town, city, county, state and nation.