like, 3 different times?

I tend to be particular about my everyday carry equipment and so I think I’ve killed that kind of gift out of my circle. My current wallet is entering its 12th year of service in surprisingly good condition. A Big Skinny L-shape. I’m not in the habit of carrying all my airman certificates around with me anymore so if I were to replace it I’d just go with their basic nylon bifold.

Seems to be a cool company; when I bought my wallet in early 2013 the price was $26, it’s now $30. I think that’s slower than inflation.

This would have been a really cool album cover in the late 90’s.

Comedy requires I answer “yes.”

This is a case where I’m going to do brain surgery with a backhoe. Disagree bots are now a thing that exist on the internet. So if I find myself arguing with someone who doesn’t seem to have an actual idea they’re arguing for they’re just disagreeing with me, I’m going to dismiss them as a worthless troll, automated or not.

Some men who don’t reject gender roles kill themselves.

I pre-emptively addressed this.

“Traditional men commit suicide, weren’t you listening?” Causation or correlation?

I don’t get a sense that you have an idea in your head, you’re just disagreeing with me for it’s own sake. So my five minutes is up, I’m not paying for the full half hour.

I’m very convinced you’re a ChatGPT-based disagree bot now. You’ve got the reading comprehension skills of one.

But that’s part of the rejection.

Why! 👏 Are! 👏 We! 👏 Rejecting! 👏 Norms! 👏 In! 👏 The! 👏 First! 👏 Place?!

You’re talking like a young feminist, one who has had a bank account since she was a teenager and has never actually lived in a world where she isn’t allowed to do anything her brother is. Feminists have or had a reason for rejecting traditional gender norms, but now treat rejection of traditional gender roles as “it’s what we do.” Foregone conclusion.

Men don’t have a reason to reject traditional gender norms and in fact have reasons not to. Chiefly: Survival. Men are the way they are because they have to be. Men are treated VERY poorly if they show any emotions. Anger is the only one he is sometimes allowed because just what the non-consentual fuck are you going to DO about it? That’s what I thought. It is sometimes possible to make people afraid of you in useful ways, to some young men it is the only source of genuine power they have. Any displays of vulnerability are an immediate invite to attack. People love kicking a man when he’s down. You can probably count any overt displays of joy or contentedness; people love ruining a man’s day. So you learn to swallow it all. If you can still walk, you’re fine. According to them, according to you, according to all. That’s the end of it.

if necessary you leave the people who make your life insufferable.

Great plan there! Abandon every survival tactic you’ve ever known and if any of the few actual allies in your life bitch about it abandon them too. Wander out into the world disarmed and entirely alone for…some fucking reason you’ve yet to elaborate upon.

“Traditional men commit suicide, weren’t you listening?” Causation or correlation? Does the act of being a manly man make one suicidal, or is it the growing expectation from society to continue to be more and more productive while pay stagnates, costs skyrocket, social contracts are broken and support structures are torn down all systematically and seemingly out of pure spite. So he either burns the village to feel its warmth or just pops his own cork.

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I’ll point out one other thing: when a gay man comes out of the closet, when an atheist speaks up, when a woman goes to work, when an OK Go fan takes his headphones off, the thing they all have in common is “This is who I truly am, and that’s what I’m going to be now.” That’s not what’s happening among men. The energy you’re bringing here is “have you tried…not being trans?”

Feminism since the 1970s has been advocating for financial independence for women so that they can leave someone regardless of how much they earn.

Yeah see, women have gained gender roles that aren’t the traditional, but the traditional homemaker is still an option. A woman can say “I want to be an insufferable boss bitch” OR she can say “I want to be a homemaker and let a man pay my way my entire life.” Men do not get that kind of option; a man doesn’t get to say “You know what I’m just gonna find a wife who will pay all my bills for me.” That shit doesn’t work. Your neighbor or whatever who’s a stay at home dad? I guarantee that’s not how he made his case on a first date because there wouldn’t have been a second one. I’ve seen women go on Tinder under a man’s account and try dating as a man, it’s an eye opening experience for a lot of them. Make up a profile that says that. “I want to be a stay at home dad and have my wife be the sole breadwinner” and see if you get ANY attention. I guarantee you won’t.

then first, I’d point out that’s a stupid definition,

I would agree with you here. Measuring a man’s success as his ability to get and keep a woman is kinda worthless. A man can do everything right and still get left because she’s bored or thinks “an accountant is good but maybe I can find a lawyer.” Women love divorce, after the wedding ceremony it’s probably their favorite thing about marriage. Comparing the divorce rates of gay men, heterosexual couples and lesbians, gay men get divorced the least and lesbians get divorced the most. You seem to be pushing a hypothesis that divorces are caused by men behaving badly to their spouse, but if that were the case you’d think that gay men would abuse each other the most and lesbians the least, when the opposite seems to be true.

BUT HERE’S THE THING. The traditional gender role of a man is to be a breadwinner and provider–for himself at least–if not a wife and nuclear family, right? That’s the traditional man’s role. Work and earn a living for yourself and your dependents. The traditional male gender role includes bachelorhood be it temporary or permanent.

To step outside of that role pretty much means you’re not going to pay your own way, in which case where is food and rent going to come from?

Government welfare? In third world failed states like the USA this is unlikely and getting less likely each administration.

Living with his parents? Grown men who are still dependent on their parents are always the butt of a joke. “Parent’s basement” is synonymous with “pathetic loser” and you’ll see people call men who are dependent on their parents pathetic to his face even when they’ve come to him for help with something because he’s probably handy with electronics.

A breadwinning wife? Reversal of traditional roles, she brings home the bacon he cooks and cleans? Well to do this, he has to attract and keep a woman. By fucking definition. If he doesn’t, this strategy has failed. BY FUCKING DEFINITION.

Breadwinning husband? Straight men are locked out of this one.

Homelessness. Need I say more?

Prison. Also, need I say more?

Can you think of anything else for a man to do? No. It’s go to work and support himself.

Now that we’re in the workplace, you’ll find men are being pushed in a more masculine direction, not less. Women enter the workforce almost entirely in safe, indoor, climate controlled jobs. Women are rare to find in infrastructure, mining and logging, construction, transportation, so on and so forth. Men do the dirty and dangerous jobs and increasingly that’s all that’s offered to them.

What choice of gender role is there for a man? In the 1950’s you had husbands and wives. That’s it. The man went to work and brought home the money, the woman stayed in the home and did housework and cared for children. In the late 20th century feminism happened and you get the Liberated Modern Woman™. Women suddenly had choices. Men saw no such change. There is no such thing as the Liberated Modern Man™. I’m probably the first person in history to have typed the phrase.

I have played through Factorio, I have also watched every video doshdoshington has made about it while cooking, doing dishes etc.

Well…

1. “Videos about gaming” don’t necessarily have to be gameplay footage. Reviews, promotional materials, discussions etc. count. Maybe even stuff like Viva La Dirt League’s content which is live action skits about video games.

2. Tutorials and walkthroughs exist.

3. Some vintage systems are difficult to get up and running or even find. For a lot of people it’s easier to just watch an enthusiast do it on youtube.

4. Especially on Twitch with streamers it’s as much about the player as it is the game.

5. Especially with esports or speedrunning it’s like watching a sporting event. Even if you like playing football too there’s something to watching the professionals play at the top echelons.

6. One can watch gaming videos while doing other things. When I was moving into my apartment in Greensboro I assembled my furniture while watching HCBailly play through the Gameboy Zelda games.

There are fewer than 4 billion men currently alive. And all of those liberal arts majors you just listed? Yeah they’re shamed as losers if their work doesn’t pay. Women don’t stay with the aspiring musician who refuses to get a day job so he can focus on his music but can never seem to land a gig. People idolize SUCCESSFUL artists, musicians, dancers, writers etc. We jail stoners especially if they aren’t white. What are YOU smoking?

And how long is that going to go on before his wife divorces him out of resentment?

Society does not permit this and you’re being intellectually dishonest in suggesting otherwise.

The fuck are you talking about? A woman can go be career driven or whatever. What else is there for a man?

There is no non-traditional gender role for a man to assume. A man who does not work and provide, protect and defend is shamed as a deadbeat. His is the only end of the old social contract no one wants to throw away.

I could imagine a technical limitation if they use some proprietary audio codec to send compressed surround sound that the browser somehow doesn’t support, but on the other hand why the fuck am I giving a big tech corporation any benefit of the doubt?

Welcome to the world according to Republicans.

better idea: shut down the phone network entirely.

Does it really need to make the news when a grown adult uses profanity?