Monday, February 11, 2008
The Child Man and The Man Teen
One of the blogs that I used to frequent had fallen into neglect but has recently been resurrected. So I was there happily reading the posts, which incidentally have changed flavour greatly from what it used to be like (not that I really mind), when I cam across two posts with regards to a single topic. Let me link you the the blog posts in question.
The Child Man by [GM] Dave
That there is the first post about this article that he read and commented on.
Next he talks about another article, based on the Child Man article by Kay Hymowitz, this article is written by Kate Muir and is titled The Dark Ages and talks about the Man Teen. I love the way they just come up with these neat terms. Child Man. Man Teen. How about.. grandpa-son?
Anyway, I dunno about you, but my very first impression after reading those two articles was that (especially the second article by Kate) sounds like they were written by 60 year old spinsters. Of course, I know they really aren't but they sure do write like one.
Essentially the articles claim that video games has led to the delayed maturity of men. This is the main point in the second article, though less in the first article. Men are getting more immature. I find that oxymoronic. Blaming the entire immaturity of men on video games and video games alone, is immaturity in itself.
Now you may disagree with me, and you have every right to do so, but my personal opinion is that while video games do have a huge impact on the social trends nowadays, it cannot be the sole cause of all our social ills. It's just a convenient vehicle to foist all our problems on.
Additionally, the article leads the readers to believe that women have been greatly victimised by video games as men now pay less attention to building a family. This claim would be true, if not a single woman in the world plays video games. Unfortunately at last check, I am guilty of playing video games. I also happen to think I'm female. I also know couples who play online games together and they are happy.
Of course, anything taken to extreme is not good. We all hear about the wives who wants a divorce because the husband pays more attention to the video games than themselves. Not so long ago there was this bimbo talksho (I forget her name) where they interviewed a couple like this. They made the guy do this really ground breaking act of shredding the installation discs. Like duh. The game doesn't need the disc once installed... and you can always buy more. The bimbo also mentioned "that the husband would rather neglect his wife and other human interactions, to be playing an online game". Anyone who actually has played MMORPGS will know that there are humans all over the server albeit being represented by a virtual avatar.
I digress.
At least Kay had shot at a variety of problems. Kate was just outright gunning for gamers. Some choice quotes from Kate's article includes:
And why do I think the author sounds like a 60 year old spinster?
Such angst in the article. Sometimes I wonder which gamer offended her.
0 Adorations
One of the blogs that I used to frequent had fallen into neglect but has recently been resurrected. So I was there happily reading the posts, which incidentally have changed flavour greatly from what it used to be like (not that I really mind), when I cam across two posts with regards to a single topic. Let me link you the the blog posts in question.
The Child Man by [GM] Dave
That there is the first post about this article that he read and commented on.
Next he talks about another article, based on the Child Man article by Kay Hymowitz, this article is written by Kate Muir and is titled The Dark Ages and talks about the Man Teen. I love the way they just come up with these neat terms. Child Man. Man Teen. How about.. grandpa-son?
Anyway, I dunno about you, but my very first impression after reading those two articles was that (especially the second article by Kate) sounds like they were written by 60 year old spinsters. Of course, I know they really aren't but they sure do write like one.
Essentially the articles claim that video games has led to the delayed maturity of men. This is the main point in the second article, though less in the first article. Men are getting more immature. I find that oxymoronic. Blaming the entire immaturity of men on video games and video games alone, is immaturity in itself.
Now you may disagree with me, and you have every right to do so, but my personal opinion is that while video games do have a huge impact on the social trends nowadays, it cannot be the sole cause of all our social ills. It's just a convenient vehicle to foist all our problems on.
Additionally, the article leads the readers to believe that women have been greatly victimised by video games as men now pay less attention to building a family. This claim would be true, if not a single woman in the world plays video games. Unfortunately at last check, I am guilty of playing video games. I also happen to think I'm female. I also know couples who play online games together and they are happy.
Of course, anything taken to extreme is not good. We all hear about the wives who wants a divorce because the husband pays more attention to the video games than themselves. Not so long ago there was this bimbo talksho (I forget her name) where they interviewed a couple like this. They made the guy do this really ground breaking act of shredding the installation discs. Like duh. The game doesn't need the disc once installed... and you can always buy more. The bimbo also mentioned "that the husband would rather neglect his wife and other human interactions, to be playing an online game". Anyone who actually has played MMORPGS will know that there are humans all over the server albeit being represented by a virtual avatar.
I digress.
At least Kay had shot at a variety of problems. Kate was just outright gunning for gamers. Some choice quotes from Kate's article includes:
Apparently, in Gears of War, the smallest details of the largest battles were crystal clear, in widescreen! Surely they were discussing their children’s computer games? Xboxes are toys, after all.
Further chat revealed the professional gentlemen were childless. The Xboxes were toys for very big boys indeed.
I assumed that, after adolescence, young men put away childish things and played amateur football, got amusingly drunk, instigated punch-ups, watched Big Brother or ineffectually pursued women. Yet here were men holding down serious careers by day, but infantalised by night in a virtual world.So it's actually a better idea to get amusingly drunk, get into fights and ineffectually pursue women. Hmmm. Got the hint guys?
And why do I think the author sounds like a 60 year old spinster?
Perhaps there’s nothing to complain of about this man-teen era, unless you’re a woman with a ticking biological clock, waiting for someone – anyone – to grow up.
Such angst in the article. Sometimes I wonder which gamer offended her.
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