Vicarious/Simulated Masculinity: Porn, Sports And Video Games

[Anonymous]

Observation rather than participation is the name of the game in the modern world. Porn, video games, spectator sports, movies, reality TV, even political bullshit - all of this leads to you becoming nothing but a consumer.

Why is this a bad thing? Well because sitting and watching others perform, often living vicariously through those people you see on screen, leads to a lack of desire to perform yourself. It prevents you from actually going out there and doing what you need to do to live the life you'd like to live.

Porn is all about easy access to female sexuality. You can find whatever type of girl you want, engaging in whatever sex act you want, with just a click of a button. This saps you of your drive to seek out real sex and relationships with real women. Maybe you lack confidence around women or it's too much effort because they're not interested in you. The more you watch porn the less likely it is that you'll gain the courage to get out there and figure it out. This is a big problem for many incels.

Video games are all about simulating adventure, competition and achievement. Oh great, you built up your skills on this game and levelled up your character, and you beat those other dorks online. What did you actually achieve? Nothing. The more time you waste on this the less time you spend learning useful skills, levelling yourself up, doing cool shit, competing in things and achieving things that actually matter.

It's the same story for all of the rest of the examples I gave before. I'm not completely against these things, I enjoy video games from time to time, I like watching sports, I like movies. However these things should be consumed in moderation. If all of your spare time is spent in front of screens you're really just living in your head, fantasising and spectating rather than doing.

Even worse, for many men I think that this is a major cause of depression. They become depressed because their lives are shitty, but they can't be bothered to do anything about it because it's much easier to simulate achievement or to live vicariously through other men, so they do more of the same to escape reality. It becomes kind of a vicious cycle.

The next time you get ready to jerk off or whatever you should have a think about how you could better spend your time.

[DonkeyDan]

Excellent observations and very true. I prefer to live my life in the real world, and just use the digital world for a little light stimulation now and then. Too many people live their lives online and Interact with people face to face less and less these days. This is the only form of social media, if you can call it that, that I use, and it's easy to dip in and out of without affecting my real life.

[Twalli]

There are actual professional video game players. They have followings like athletes. What about professional chess players? Are they any less? I agree that casual gamers are not really doing anything with their lives by playing the game. Habitual single porn watchers are the same

[myTake Owner]

If some guys are making some good money fucking about playing video games then fair enough, but yeah 99.9% of guys are not. Chess is a good game, requires a lot of brain power and sharpens the mind, improves memory, develops planning and foresight etc. The point is that it’s healthier to do more and consume/watch less.

[This_Is_My_Opinion8]

Balance is key.
None of those things are bad as long as you don't do them all day.
I workout very often. But I also play games.
I have a full time job. I also like to watch series.
I am married. I still watch porn on occasion. Most of the times with her.

[Anonymous]

Meh that's too much work...

[Anonymous]

Spot on. Many guys blame feminism for the emasculation of men and talk a lot about masculinity but they do all of these things.