fillet-of-who?

I come to you today with sad news. I’ve decided to move on from Obscure Inq to pursue new goals in my life.

Though I cannot speak for anyone else, I’ve had a blast. Hopefully, all of the countless hours we’ve spent slaving away over a keyboard and scouring the vast and often frightening depths of the internet has done something for you. Whether it made you more educated, cynical, stupified, scarred, or just got you through the day, we consider that a job well done.

So if I could, can I please get one round of applause for everyone on the Obscure team. In order of appearance: Will, Jake, HP, Tom, Tucker, and Tristan. Thank you guys for all your efforts!

An article on msn caught my attention today. It featured Michael Kimmel the author of the book Guyland and brought up the topic concerning how today’s young men are frequently trapped between boyhood and adulthood. The title of the article itself was Boys to Men: Why guys aren’t growing up. As you can guess, the article pretty much pointed fingers at everyone who writes or even reads the content of this site. But before we get too defensive, let’s talk about some of the trends that the article addressed.

In your own experience, does there seem to be a growing trend of career aimlessness, videogame induced non-productivity, binge drinking, girl bashing, and continued dorm-esque lifestyles among our post-college male population? Is there an increase of hook-ups over meaningful relationships? Is it more difficult for guys to break away from their college and high school buddies than it was for our fathers before us? Michael Kimmel would certainly say yes.

To be honest, I’m somewhat inclined to say yes as well. Technology naturally plays a role. Facebook and instant messenger for example, make it much simpler for your everyday schmoe to keep in touch with old friends. Videogames likewise have become cultural pastime catering to a very specific male demographic (Even despite the admirable efforts of the Nintendo’s Wii). And today’s mass communication allows for and promotes the heavy flow and production of pornography and sports discourse across a variety of media. And though I’ve never really discovered the appeal of popular sports, I do find myself guilty of living vicariously through characters found in action flicks more often than I spend time mapping out my future. I for one, even admit to maintaining a conscious resistance to the thought of becoming a full-fledged adult.

Michael Kimmel writes…

“In this topsy-turvy, Peter-Pan mindset, young men shirk the responsibilities of adulthood and remain fixated on the trappings of boyhood, while the boys they still are struggle heroically to prove that they are real men despite all evidence to the contrary”

I’m hesitant to agree that such trends will bring about the fall of mankind, but at the same time I do recognize some valid points. Basically instead of putting in the effort of producing my own opinion, I’m going to leave that to you readers. So what do you think? Are these observations and claims accurate? Or are these notions simply the rants of an aging (and balding) man who belongs to a generation that will never understand Nirvana, has a skewed view of video games, and basically repeats (in different terminology) what every previous generation says about the one after them? I’ll be in my room watching porn.