Hacker News with Generative AI: Masculinity

How the Passionate Male Friendship Died (theatlantic.com)
The “perfect” platonic bond used to be between two men. What happened?
Wanted: Manly jobs for manly men (vpostrel.substack.com)
Behind much of the MAGA economic agenda lies a concern with restoring manly jobs. Coal miners want to mine! says Donald Trump. “They’re good strong guys,” he says. “That’s what they want to do. They love to dig coal, that's what they want to do. They don't want to do gidgets and widgets and wadgets. They don’t want to build cell phones with their hands, their big, strong hands.”
Why American men think it's not worth going to college anymore (bloomberg.com)
Rising tuition, the spread of more traditional ideas of masculinity on social media and a desire for an immediate income are working together to set boys on a different path.
The evolution of the Alpha male aesthetic (bloomberg.com)
In the mid-19th century, French poet Charles Baudelaire opined that fashion wasn’t merely ornamental, it was a mirror reflecting the spirit of the age. This continues to be true today. In certain corners of the internet, the ideal man lifts weights, tracks macros and speaks in clipped imperatives. He dresses not for comfort but for the camera, squeezing into compression gear or tightly tailored suits.
Evolution of the Manosphere Alpha Male Aesthetic (bloomberg.com)
The 'masculinity crisis' is a crisis of self-esteem (psyche.co)
The early 21st century is described as a time of crises. Liberal democracy, the US (or global) economy, the environment, masculinity, ageing populations, migration, misinformation and social media use are all supposedly in crisis – amounting to what some have called a global ‘polycrisis’. The reader will be forgiven for being sceptical, then, as I draw on the philosophical literature on recognition theory to introduce one more to the stage.
Worthwhile Lives for Sensitive Young Men (librarianofcelaeno.substack.com)
I was very grateful for the opportunity to speak with Johann Kurtz and Dave Greene the other day and for the chance to hear their views expounded more directly, as well as to elaborate on my own. Johann Kurtz has offered an afterword and I thought I might do so as well.
The Alpha Myth: How captive wolves led us astray (anthonydavidadams.substack.com)
In 1947, at Switzerland's Basel Zoo, animal behaviorist Rudolf Schenkel peered into an enclosure of captive wolves, meticulously documenting their interactions. What he witnessed – aggressive displays of dominance, rigid hierarchies, the emergence of an "alpha" male – would spawn decades of misunderstanding about power, leadership, and masculinity.
'A fatal miscalculation': masculinity researcher on why Democrats lost young men (theguardian.com)
In the months leading up to election day, pollsters were fixated on one demographic: young men. This group, often elusive in political data, was showing signs of a notable swing toward Donald Trump and away from the progressive viewpoints of young women.
Size Matters? Penis Dissatisfaction and Gun Ownership in America (nlm.nih.gov)