Do Videogames Hurt Men?

[Shiranu]

Okay, so this is from the same channel as the feminism video and has some similarities, but I think this one warrants its own thread.

[youtube:ore7zn8u]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrActT_7X6U[/youtube:ore7zn8u]

Talks about the idea of the expendable male, the unrealistic expectations of men and the unrealistic body expectations of men (20% or so of men are anorexic/bulimic, and the number is going up).

Just like the feminism video, I bring this up because it is something I am interested in. I would have liked to see a comment on the male video game community as well as the games themselves, though IIRC Adam Sessler had a good video on the topic I will see if I can find.

[stromboli]

For the sake of comparison, I don't play video games and my dick hasn't fallen off. You?

[Plu]

I play lots of videogames and mine is also still attached. So that part seems to be unrelated.

[Hydra009]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the steroid-induced beefcake physique, either.  In RPGs, I generally prefer an average build unless there's some in-game reason why they'd have to be heavily muscled (gladiator, space marine, etc).  I sorta liked the Walking Dead games because their males (and females) felt more like real people.

I'm oddly okay with the expectation of the male character being a take-charge, leader sort of guy.  It makes sense for the protagonist to be protagonisty.  If the protagonist were a female character (Samus, Laura Croft, etc), I'd expect her to be a take-charge person, too.  That's just what the protagonist does.  And of course, the gamer playing as the protagonist wants to take charge of the situation.

I don't really agree with the silent, emotionally stunted thing.  A lot of games simply don't give the protagonist much fleshing out.  As a result, he (or she) is mute and emotionally flat.  Like Gordon Freeman from Half-Life or the Chell from Portal.  Now, the ones that do get voice acting or dialogue and do act like emotionally dead sociopaths...yeah, that's just bad characterization.

The expendable thing kinda makes sense in that games are usually about combat (military, gang warfare, etc) and historically, men have had the lock on that.  The Total War series just isn't going to have a lot of women in martial roles.  Sorry.  But in some of the more futuristic games I've played tend to have more women in them, and not just that, but women who are crazy good at war-making.  I'm talking Tanya from C&C, the women generals in Generals, and the matriarchal Advent in Sins of a Solar Empire.  "For the Unity!"  *goosebumps*  And in City of Heroes, you mow down men and women more or less equally.  Go equality.

[Jmpty]

Only the men who I kill while playing HALO online. It's not good for them at all.

[LikelyToBreak]

Videogames can hurt men.  I remember reading about a twenty something year-old, who played a videogame for over 24 hours, then dropped dead.  Heart aneurysm or something which he aggravated by not resting for so long.  

Emotionally?  Probably no more than watching sports do.

[Jason78]

Yeah, a heart aneurysm will do that to you.

Playing a video game wont.

[Hydra009]

Dammit guys, read more than just the title of the thread.

[Agramon]

Dammit guys, read more than just the title of the thread.

[youtube:vgh8kosb]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afMsXWRWbOk[/youtube:vgh8kosb]

[SilentFutility]

(20% or so of men are anorexic/bulimic, and the number is going up)

Source?

[SGOS]

The War on Video Gaming is pretty much over I think.  Games are quite tame compared to the sex and violence on TV and movies, but for those who haven't really looked at them, they became an imagined portal through which children passed from innocence to a world of violent crime and forced prostitution.

The men are brawny and the women are voluptuous.  Oh, my!  Oh, my!  You see, it's a fantasy that's a bit to cartoonish to be taken seriously.  None the less, our youth are now turning away from God and becoming wicked tools of Satan because of video games.  If your child asks you for a Play Station IV, you should convince him a hula hoop will lead him to a wholesome adult life, while video games can only turn him into a drooling idiot condemned to live in filth and stench.

[frosty]

Well, I understand what my Dad was saying all these years when he kept saying that overall video games are not going to give you much. Staying in the house playing video games for too long eventually makes you feel like shit and it gets boring. Playing them once in a while is ok, and I still do, but as a whole I am starting to drift away from them and I'd rather start doing more productive things with my own life.

Maybe a few times a week I will play though, because right now there are some good games out there that when played in moderation can be fun.

Only the men who I kill while playing HALO online. It's not good for them at all.

Lol this was funny. You must be a pwner in online HALO.

And yes men have a growing issue with how society tells them to physically look, but I don't necessarily think that's because of video games themselves.... there are many factors.

[stromboli]

Dammit guys, read more than just the title of the thread.

Where's the fun in that?  :-D

Actually, I think any damage is no different than incorrect attitudes derived from porn, for example.  My life experience is that people who are fucked up are generally fucked up to start with, so I doubt a video game is going to alter that a large amount. All my children and grand children are gamers and hang out with gamers, and don't seem maladjusted.

[PickelledEggs]

Interesting video.


As for do video games hurt men?
Anyone that says they can't/wont, hasn't played Mario Party on N64.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

No doubt about it..video games turn men into flaming drag queens which by the way I might add is against gods will.

Videothians 9:54 He who shall playith video games shall become a flaming drag queen and god is extremely homophobic.