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Re:Ignoring Boys' Emotional Needs Fuels Public Health Risks by at_a_remove on Monday June 26, 2023 @12:03AM (#36475614)
I wholly agree with "second fathers."

I am Gen X, and I think one of the social institutions which has quietly vanished before I could quite get to it was the old Roman concept of "patronage." Without understanding I was doing it until embarrassingly late, I spent a lot of time looking for those second fathers, the mentors, the patrons. What broke it for me was someone who was clearly suited for the role, and had benefited from it himself, but was simply too self-involved to pay it forward, as it were. I realized that the Boomers as a trend just weren't thinking patronage or even the idea of planting trees they wouldn't see grown.

So, no mentors for me. Nor am I, sadly, in the position to be much of one myself. I can at last see myself doing it and cut that off at the pass.

If the "wrong" groups have something to offer in the way of second fathers, maybe their values aren't as bad as expected. Nobody wants to even consider that. If only The Bad Guys are making sense about some issues, what else might they be correct on?

Re:Ignoring Boys' Emotional Needs Fuels Public Health Risks by worrycue on Monday June 26, 2023 @01:42AM (#36476102)
> If the "wrong" groups have something to offer in the way of second fathers, maybe their values aren't as bad as expected. Nobody wants to even consider that. If only The Bad Guys are making sense about some issues, what else might they be correct on?

Some of those “wrong groups” are just flat out scammers and charlatans though - see those “alpha male” influencers hawking their courses or whatever. They are taking advantage of a need in others to enrich themselves without really giving a damn about their charges.

Re:Ignoring Boys' Emotional Needs Fuels Public Health Risks by iamacyborg on Monday June 26, 2023 @02:22AM (#36476369)
Two examples immediately spring to mind, Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson.

I’m sure both have had some moderately useful things to say at some stage of their life for some folks, but a quick look at their Twitter profile tells you everything you really need to know now.

Re:Ignoring Boys' Emotional Needs Fuels Public Health Risks by TwentyPosts on Monday June 26, 2023 @02:54AM (#36476554)
To be fair, several years ago Jordan Peterson seemed quite genuine and earnest about wanting to do good in the world...and then his Benzos coma happened, and he was out cold for several months in Russia or something bizarre, an it's very, very obvious that he has never recovered from that.

Like, we're talking some amount of genuine brain damage damage which he's just stuck with now.

Twitter was also just not a good place for him at all. Some people just get sucked into that sort of stuff, even though it's terrible for their public image, and even though there is so much more they could be doing. Anyone remember how people made fun of eg. Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson for being obnoxiously atheistic on Twitter? Yeah, it's a bit like that.

Re:Ignoring Boys' Emotional Needs Fuels Public Health Risks by pyuser583 on Monday June 26, 2023 @10:55PM (#36488375)
I think social media influencers should be excluded from the “second father” category.

This is an in person relationship.

Re:Ignoring Boys' Emotional Needs Fuels Public Health Risks by iamacyborg on Tuesday June 27, 2023 @01:47PM (#36496278)
Sadly a lot of folks form parasocial relationships with influencers.