Video games are an indication of a new "Man-Teen" culture....for gods sake....

[Asymptote Angel]

I found what I'd like to call 'the root' of the article.

"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."

Roughly translated, "I can't find a husband and it's clearly not my fault because that isn't possible, what with me being so open minded and all."

Amen! What a waste of your life... just sitting there waiting for the guy who'll fit exactly with your desires to wander into your lap.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

But people have so many other reasons to think I'm weird, including the amount of money I spend on comic books and manga, the amount of time I spend watching anime, sci-fi, and martial arts movies, the fact that I have a motorcycle instead of a minivan.

One date... come on one date?

OK, go take a look at the birthdate on my profile. I assure you the year is accurate. Now ask yourself, "Do I wanna date my mom?" And then maybe ask the question, do I want to date your mom? Is she hot? If the answer to either one of these questions is yes, then maybe we can talk.

But really, why is there such a gap between male and female gamers? ... WHERE ARE ALL THE GAMER-WOMEN-NERD-TEENS?!?!

Um, not to be obnoxious or anything, but you do realize that this is the total flipside to the article author's question, "Where are all the grown-up men?!?" right?

But to answer your question, you can find a large number of them over on Fandom_Wank [http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank], or in any Final Fantasy slashfic community.

 

[General Ma Chao]

I don't think the author can accept that there are men who really do not want to jump on the "marriage and kids" train. I don't think you can force a man to be a provider anymore than you can force a woman to be a homemaker. Some of these men are immature, but others are waiting until they're ready. Once a man has a wife and family, his previous life is effectively OVER. Every minute and dollar is now dedicated to providing for that family. In an age of such incredible economic uncertainty, that can be soul-crushing.

 

[i_am_undead]

All I do is chop firewood and dig holes and hunt for food and raise barns (?) and procreate and eat big meals and other manly things, so I couldn't possible understand what she's getting at.

 

[The Q]

I married a gamer that is afraid to have kids because she thinks she'll be a bad mother. Score.

 

[i_am_undead]

If I watched "Sex and the City," would that make me more grown up? What women really want is a man who has been trained to kill brain-hungry zombies, which is the definition of a true "gamer."

 

[Girlysprite]

Welcome to expectation of society towards genders versus...expectation of society towards genders.
Trust me, 2 different things. One tells the women the build a career and for men to be understanding, listening and helping in the household...the other one tells the oldfashioned story; housekeeper and provider. I agree with mshcherbatskaya, it was spot-on.

While the article was very uninformed and by that, generally dumb, I can understand to a degree how she came to write it. On top of it, I find it VERY annoying when people start to comment on a womans looks, if they'd hit it, or her sexual life when she writes something we they don't agree with. As such, you're sending the message that women are inferior anyways...which may not be what you mean, but it's what you more or less say.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Woe to you, oh earth and sea. For the Devil sends the Beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short. Let him who hath understanding recon the number of the beast, for it is a man-teen number. It's number, is 360.

lol I went to a maiden concert a few days ago.


What got me angry about this article is that the title is "The dark ages". She is really biased and stupid. She clearly has no idea what shes on about, hasn't done any research and based her atricle on what she thinks about the issue. Is this sort of writing honestly good enough to be on the Times online.

 

[Haliwali]

But really, why is there such a gap between male and female gamers? ... WHERE ARE ALL THE GAMER-WOMEN-NERD-TEENS?!?!

Um, not to be obnoxious or anything, but you do realize that this is the total flipside to the article author's question, "Where are all the grown-up men?!?" right?

But to answer your question, you can find a large number of them over on Fandom_Wank [http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank], or in any Final Fantasy slashfic community.

That was kind of the point

 

[laikenf]

I'm a 31 year old Architect, I love to travel, play music (I'm a drummer) and I also create scaled models as a hobby, I've been happly married with my beautiful whife (who loves video games) for 4 years. BUT I LOVE PLAYING VIDEO GAMES and I will play them with my kids just like I play with my whife. Everyone who knows me is aware of this and NOBODY HAS A PROBLEM WITH IT; so, I'm happy .

 

[ayoama]

"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"

And a woman should prefer men that indulge in these activities over gamer guys why? Because they're being mature? And here I thought being mature meant principally being responsible. Silly me.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

It may interest you to know that as well as the lack of logical rigour in her writing and general statistical stupidity, she is also French.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

While the article was very uninformed and by that, generally dumb, I can understand to a degree how she came to write it. On top of it, I find it VERY annoying when people start to comment on a womans looks, if they'd hit it, or her sexual life when she writes something we they don't agree with. As such, you're sending the message that women are inferior anyways...which may not be what you mean, but it's what you more or less say.

But then she wins either way, doesn't she?
If we react, it's because it hit a nerve.
If we don't react, it must be true.

She was the one who deliberately brought up the idea of wanting a man to give her children.

I'm reminded of IDT/INDT from the classroom blackboards, or is that something equally un-PC?

And let's face it, with most men we argue with, we agree whether we'd hit it or not. It's just that as part of the alleged RULERS OF THE WORLD, life pretty much sucks for us too. You don't need to be in a minority to be buried in shit.

 

[Necrohydra]

After reading ALL, of this...I'm left thinking if maturity is a definitive term, or a relative term.

By this article's standards, my sister is quite mature. After all, she's got a kid and all. Regardless of the fact that she goes out and parties until 3 or 4 in the morning most weekends and some weekdays. Besides the fact that she drops in and out of college. Besides the fact that she basically survives off of government aid and my parent's help.

Yep, real mature, she is.

EDIT: capslock of rage...heh heh, good one.

 

[Sniper_Zegai]

It may interest you to know that as well as the lack of logical rigour in her writing and general statistical stupidity, she is also French.

Thank the lord!

My national pride has been restored.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

...I find it VERY annoying when people start to comment on a womans looks, if they'd hit it, or her sexual life when she writes something we they don't agree with. As such, you're sending the message that women are inferior anyways...which may not be what you mean, but it's what you more or less say.

But then she wins either way, doesn't she?
If we react, it's because it hit a nerve.
If we don't react, it must be true.

I read the above several times and I honestly don't the the logic of what you are saying here. I'm not saying you are being illogical, I just really don't understand what you mean by this.

She was the one who deliberately brought up the idea of wanting a man to give her children.

Which is not the same as her saying she can't find a guy to "hit it." Finding someone to sleep with is probably something she can do, it's finding someone who will step up and raise children with her that she is apparently having problems with. She seems to think she is somehow entitled to a husband, which makes me want to lock her in a room with the next whiny fanboy who thinks he's entitled to a girlfriend.

I'm reminded of IDT/INDT from the classroom blackboards, or is that something equally un-PC?

I googled IDT/INDT and couldn't find an actual definition, and I've never heard of it before, so I can't tell you if it's PC or not. Probably not, is my guess.

And let's face it, with most men we argue with, we agree whether we'd hit it or not.

What? Wait! What?! Let me just double-check what you said there - with most men you argue with, you agree whether you'd hit it or not - so when when Kevin McCullough posted that bullshit about Mass Effect, you discussed his fuckability just like you did with the woman who wrote the article? Or are you saying that any two guys talking about a woman must at some point in the conversation determine whether or not they'd have sex with her? Because if you mean the first, dude, I'm totally bummed that I missed that part of the conversation, and if you mean the second, then wow, I'm not sure whether that is more insulting to women or to men.

It's just that as part of the alleged RULERS OF THE WORLD, life pretty much sucks for us too. You don't need to be in a minority to be buried in shit.

I would agree with that. Which is why I think feminism is not just for women. The way the gender divide works now, it kecks things up for everyone. Ultimately, feminism is (or should be, in my opinion) about making sure that everyone has the full range of options for pursuing happiness, which is why the sooner this sexist "Well, I disagree with her, but more importantly I wouldn't fuck her" mode of argument dies out, the sooner things start getting better for everyone.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

While the article was very uninformed and by that, generally dumb, I can understand to a degree how she came to write it.

I can't--I don't understand how someone has heard of Age of Empires but not sperm banks. If her biological clock is ticking as she states and no one is willing to 'defuse' it, well, there are options. Last I checked you didn't need to be married to be fertile.

The only way a person writes an article like this is if they have absolutely no respect for the opposite gender. Seriously--imagine if a man wrote an article about women that complained about how none of them want to make babies for him. She basically reduces the male gender to a stud farm in this article.

Aside from pointing out that single motherhood is brutally difficult, even for the women I know who are doing it really well with lots of support, and she doesn't want to have to do that, I agree with you. To boil it down to a single word, I think her argument is sexist, and the fact that her frustration grows out of the double-bind placed on her by a sexist culture doesn't excuse that.

Also, any time someone starts hearkening back to the good old days (of which they have little or no experience), that immediately makes me question the basis of their whole line of reasoning right out of the gate. She seems to think things used to be better because why? Because it was easier to shame men into giving up their hobbies? That's ridiculous. Because in 1965 men used to spend more time with their families and be more involved in their children's lives? I'd like to know what alternate universe history she's pulling this from.

My advice to her - if the men around you are not satisfying your needs then, a.) reality check your needs, and b.) invest your time and energy some place else. No adult has ever actually "met the needs" of another adult. This is my firm belief. If you are lucky, you can build out of trust, affection, and shared goals a kind of symbiosis with another human being, who may or may not be your sex partner or the parent of your children. But "meeting each other's needs" - that's just mutual parasitism.

 

[Gisgo Elim]

I plan on playing games every second of my free time after certain responsibilities such as jobs, my spouse, and children are well taken care of. To say that I'm immature for doing so is uninformed. Right now I'm using dictionary.com to learn how to spell because of games... and her accusations so saying games are useless toys for childish amusement purposes only has just been "refuted". What a guy does for fun shouldn't be used against him and his maturity. If a guy LARPS then good for him. That doesn't mean he lives in his moms basement, thats just a educated assumption. Whether or not I, a teen, doesn't gets another steady job, then a wife, and have kids, like a respectable citizen, is still up to debate but if I don't I'm mature enough not to blame that on video games.