One of the things I've noticed from being immersed in terminally-online brainrot is that most people who mope that "Women should be more like this," or that "Men don't do enough of this," aren't actually referring to the actual flesh-and-blood human beings known as men and women; they're talking about groups as Platonic forms. So I get the impression that these articles aren't saying "More boys need to read books," but are saying something more like: "Within my circle, the Concept of Men has become one of a creature who does not read enough of the books that are popular with my friends; and since I cannot distinguish the Concept of Men from actual mans, I am going to blame all the malefolk for my misdirected anger." It's a lot easier to pass judgement when groups are seen as things containing people-like-things, rather than as groupings people fit into. I blame Aristotle.
Wanna know if they took audiobook into consideration. Cause you see, as a man, there's a degree of time efficiency that comes with audiobooks that allows me to travel, work, do whatever while I'm listening to the story being told, especially if it's some real thick ass book like Imajica. To read, and I mean read as enter into a flow state of proper absorbing, you have to be still and focused, without distraction and that can be hard to do, due to our modern, often manic lifestyle and our deeply instilled fear of wasting precious time.
I have over 2K hours played in one shitty game that I am addicted to, so I kinda happen to be an expert on wasting time and I can certify that reading is not a waste of time.
I am a RUclipsr that encourages young men to read and write fiction because I believe being literate is valuable for our society. My discord server even hosts a writing group to encourage people to write more. However, I have found that traditional publishing is not what was 30 years ago. I noticed on QueryTracker that as "white male" that I was in the extreme minority of those who wanted to publish in my particular genre of fiction, and at one point even being told that my "voice" was not going to get traditionally published these days. So, I don't think we can rubbish indie publishing since it is the final refuge of dissonant voices. BTW, I really appreciated your balanced approach to this topic; it is most needed at this time.
I've been keeping an eye on the whole people not reading thing. Personally speaking they don't give kids reasons to read, (they being the poorly funded education departments around the country) nor did they care if you knew what was in the book.
Thank you! I don't know why this is an issue. Personally, my interests lie in reading non-fiction , not fiction because it's more INTERESTING to me (am I not being womanly enough, for not conforming to the stereotype of the interests of my sex ? 😒 🙄) I'll read a fictional book once in a blue moon but usually, I'll just read a manga (vintage horror manga from the sixties, seventies and eighties, is peakest of fiction and I'll die on that hill) if I wanted to read fiction for entertainment sake. It's easily digestible and takes up less time to get through. That's because I also, am interested in other hobbies, such as rock hounding and survivalist camping out in the woods. Foraging edible plants, hiking, spelunking. Which leaves me wondering, why isn't it being pushed in the opposite way? Why isn't it a concern that women aren't reading more non-fiction? Isn't it important to understand history, sociology, sociopolitical theory? Considering this is necessary to understand the real world around us, around the events and situations that affects us in real time. But either way, you can't FORCE peoples interests and reading fiction isn't the end all be all. Like you stated, there's only so much free time we have and plenty of things out there in the world to see and do. And if reading fiction isn't high on one's list, it doesn't put our entire civilization in a tailspin crisis. 🤦🏻♀️
@@kittykat896 totally agree. If someone says they don't care for video games, I wouldn't tell them they have to keep playing them until they find one they like lol
@brickcruz5325 exactly. But what's even more ridiculous is that it's inferred that they're not reading fiction. That it's not a reading issue cause they are reading. They're reading non-fiction....and somehow that's.....bad? So, wtf? Ffs that's such a weird take to have.
“Do you think there is trade off here, that some people are reading more, and some people are playing video games more…” Most people I know who play a lot of video games have kids. It’s something they do as a family, or they have game nights, where the parents do RPG in one room while the kids play video games in another. I know several authors who also have game nights, either with friends or family. My Hubby enjoys video games, too. (We also enjoy a game of chess once in a while.) Personally, I don’t play games of any kind, with the exception of chess. I do think time is a huge factor. When you have to work three jobs for the basics, there’s not a lot of energy left over for recreation. 16:16 I think the author of this article has a personal agenda. Reading isn’t a sign of lazy indulgence. I’d be more critical of why our current economy is robbing everyone of the time needed to read than denigrate reading itself. And Andrew Tate? Seriously? I don’t know a single man who thinks that guy is worth listening to. Not. One. 21:04 I don’t consider my reading a social thing, as there aren’t many who read the way I do: I’ll read two different authors with opposite takes on a subject to compare and contrast the viewpoints. I do the same with fantasy books. As far as I know, few people do that outside of a class. 27:26 I agree. This kind of attitude is wrecking reading for many people. The whole concept of ‘sneaking education into a story’ is actually used to dump propaganda or porn where it has no business being. 40:12 The contrast in focus of this article to the first one is stark. Much prefer the Jason Diamond piece. I couldn’t access the NYT piece. (Paywall) Overall: I remember watching Ghostbusters in 1985, laughing when Egon Spengler stated “Print is dead.” As long as there are people with a cultural love of literature and books, it’ll be around. Will it get ‘Fahrenheit 451” bad? I’m sure there’re people out there who’d enjoy that, others that fear it. I prefer to encourage people to read whatever peaks their interest in fiction, and read as much as they can on how to create-and go do it. Good video to start off the New Year.
I’ve mentioned before that during my first year as a high school teacher, most of my bookworms were girls while to a one, almost all of my boys were weebs. Personally, I think the problem is that the biggest genre at the moment is romantasy, a genre written by women for women. (Let’s just ignore the overwhelming popularity of romcom anime targeting young men.) If you’re a young man, you have Neal Shusterman and arguably Pierce Brown. Otherwise you have to look to adult writers like Stephen King or Brandon Sanderson.
I think a huge issue about reading today is that most booktubers, booktokers etc. treat reading like activism instead of you know, a hobby . Like I’ve had up to here with the discourse that all reading is political( along with everything else, which is not healthy). My husband and I are avid readers in very different genres (and can be quite dangerous together in a bookstore lol), but besides a handful of contemporary authors we each follow , we stick to used bookstores because the “message” of both sides has just gotten irritating at this point. In sum I agree that we need to go back to reading fiction for fun and recommending books based on what you think someone would like instead of what “should” be read because [insert stupid culture war thing here ]
Let's promote audiobooks for boys. As a gamer, I often listen to books and podcasts while I play. It keeps my body focused on something, especially with games like Minecraft, where the gameplay becomes almost mechanical.
@@samantaluna3870 I love Audiobooks. I listen to them while I workout, when I'm at work, when I walk the dog, while I game. It's how I do the vast majority of my book consumption.
3:00 “What do you think? What do you notice?” (Regarding straight men not reading books) My Hubby reads as much or more than I do, and we share books and series between us. His coworkers (software engineers and engineers) are also avid readers. They have to be to stay up to date on white papers and other aspects of their jobs. I do have friends who are not strictly book readers. They are devoted to other media like theater (especially local theater productions), music (several are in local bands), and movies (home made and locally produced). Everyone I know with small children and young adults also read.
It seems like this has been a thing for decades. I remember there being a lot popular male MC books when I was coming up. Artemis Fowl, Darren Shan, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Alex Rider books, Eragon. Still, I also remember seeing news about the decline in reading amongst young boys back then. *All this to say, I'm not sure if it's due to a lack of male leads, which is sometimes suggested.
I'm a dude and my kindle is filled with 1500 ebooks and every single one is fiction. Mostly fantasy, sci-fi and urban fantasy. At least Amazon knows what I like to read.
The time management of reading probably also depends on your opinion of audiobooks. I draw during the week after work, Saturdays are for world of Warcraft/personal gaming, and Sundays I play online with my brothers and sister. I can and do listen to Audible all through this time, except Sundays. And I've amassed a pretty extensive list of finished books on there. I tried to read a physical book in the traditional way a while back and it took me over a year. I just have trouble making the time. Even my comics tend to sit around for about a week before I can get to them.
@@spookyfirst9514I can understand that. I actually tend to have that problem with physical books. I've somehow developed the ability to read an entire page while simultaneously spacing out. Then I have to go back and reread the page. Id probably read more of I had someplace to escape to for some peace and quiet. As it stands right now when I do read physical books I have to pop iny ear buds and play thunderstorms. That always helps. There's nothing like reading during a thunderstorm.
I remember being a huge fantasy book nerd when i was younger, but now my reading stamina has plummeted. Meanwhile social media claws me back whenever i try and escape it.
On the topic of being a market that's seen (and therefore served) by publishers: I buy at least a dozen novels each year, but I doubt that the publishing industry receives any feedback from my purchasing habits, because I buy almost all of them at used bookstores. I read mostly genre fiction (as you can probably guess by the username), and as far as I can tell genre fiction genre fiction peaked 40 years ago. Not sure what the solution is there; I stopped going to new book retailers because they never had anything that interested me. I'm not going to buy books I don't want to read to send a message to publishers, and I doubt anyone else would. I occasionally purchase a newer book, usually on Amazon, which has its own problems. Short version: Amazon is a good place to find a specific book, but a terrible place to browse. As to why men don't read, there are many reasons, but the public school system is certainly part of the problem. Being forced to read is never going to endear people to the medium in the first place. The school curricula compound the issue with boys by not assigning the types of fiction they enjoy. Boys tend to enjoy fantasy, horror, science fiction, mystery and adventure stories. Can't speak for everyone, but I went to a decent school system and was in the advanced classes for English. In my entire track through primary/secondary school, the only time I read anything from those genres for school was when I chose it as part of an assignment which let you pick what book you read. You want boys to grow up to be fiction readers? Wuthering Heights and the Handmaid's Tale aren't going to do it. Assign them to read Jack London, Sir Walter Scott, Edgar Rice Burroughs, HG Wells, Raymond Chandler, Alexandre Dumas, etc. Also, no. Assuming that women dominating publishing might be biasing the industry against men does not require you to also believe that white people dominating the industry must also be biasing it against nonwhites. It is considered socially acceptable for women to intentionally advantage themselves as a group at the expense of men. It is not socially acceptable for whites to advantage themselves at the expense of nonwhites. It's just different incentives. I enjoy your channel by the way. Keep it up.
Interesting subject and takes as always. My experience as straight, mostly-white male: Im not much of a reader BUT I love writing for some reason lol. I believe it comes down to preference. As boys most of us preferred running around outside, rough housing, playing sports. The media we do enjoy is typically more a physical experience as well. Though watching TV/movies and playing video games is physically passive, it still engages eyes and ears. Books engage the mind and imagination more. Every woman I know reads at least a couple books a year if not more. Most men I know don't. I may be bias and grew up in the US around people who did have an anti-intellectual leaning for sure. That mindset is still ingrained in me, and probably a controversial take, but anti-intellectualism plays a necessary role in society as does academia - same way that the political Left needs the political Right to keep itself in check and vise versa. When I decided to become a writer about 14 years ago, I hadn't read since college. My writing sucked since I was a beginner, so I joined critique groups. They told me I HAD to read if I was to be a good writer. I didn't disagree. So I read a lot of books and disliked most of them, though I did find some gems like On the Hook by Francisco Stork and Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. They had relatable characters or arcs, and people who grew up in circumstances more like mine. That said, I still don't read just for the thrill of it. I read fiction to improve my craft so in a way it's still more about helping me be productive than having a good time lol. It is hard to find stuff I like, and to be honest, I don't think I have to. If I liked reading more then I would search for books I would enjoy. Most stuff that comes into my consumer vision is fantasy which I'm not big on. It's not my fault that's what mostly gets pushed. I will start reading it but that's only because I plan on starting a fantasy series myself. Why do I like to create in a media I don't consume? Wish I could tell ya, but I don't know myself...
Male genre readership is an untapped market. There are smaller platforms which are geared towards them, and they're steadily growing, especially with younger male readers. This demographic has a strong desire for storytelling but it's repeatedly betrayed by the current stance of existing institutions and subversive products that have repeatedly offered one thing and provided another. The main issue is the adversarial approach in even engaging with this segment of the population in general. Each article read in this video took the same stance: whatever is viewed by these article writers as positive, cram it down the throat of those who wouldn't ever be interested in such things. e.g. Fourth Wing. This attitude makes it seem like they just want maximum resistance at every turn. Respectfully, I disagree that there isn't some sort of affinity between male writers and male readers. I think this is the fundamental disconnect between all of these articles. This isn't to say a woman writer can't author for a male audience, I can name a series off the top of my head which would make that a false statement: The Dragonlance Chronicles -- but if we're going to be holistic in our approach to figuring out what's going wrong and where, it would be the last article discussed, where male writers are being actively sandbagged in the publishing pipeline. There are specific story archetypes that are innately expressed by male writers that a male readership will most likely gravitate toward. Simple market dynamics: if the market isn't being satisfied, it goes elsewhere. I don't think young males are being left behind in general, as far as maturity. They've been abandoned by existing institutions and the means by which these metrics are gathered are simply measuring this neglect. Young men are engaging in hard hitting topics and deeper issues on their own terms because they're forced to find other ways to learn. So they're going to go to alternative sources e.g. Joe Rogan, et al, to understand the world. Their ability to write about topics and willingness to simply read sources given by existing institutions is likely lower. This is because they're essentially being forced to partake in oral tradition via podcasts to gather information about the world. If you want to court a male audience, it has to be almost a caricature of masculine-oriented tropes in order to entice and earn the trust of new readership simply for the aforementioned reasons. I think that the collective push back and cultural u-turn in video game spaces shows the ways that this is possible in any medium. The same marketing methodologies by which you attract a male audience with video games today will also draw the same kind of a readership.
@thechumbucket8986 I've met plenty. I'm sure it depends on social circles. The point wasn't specifically Rogan, but podcasters with similar talking points.
>Reading is an indulgence Huh? Maybe. But then again so are a lot of things. I don't read most fiction. I do like short stories, generally avoid novels. In fact, I once borrowed The Last Wish from a friend (waaaay before the video game made it cool, ok?). Loved it! Then I borrowed Blood of Elves. Couldn't make it past the second chapter. Of course, neither of those were originally in English, but I don't think that was the determining factor. Some novels can pull me in. I haven't figured out the formula, but I don't worry about it. If I feel inspired to read something, I read. If I feel compelled to keep reading, I do, otherwise, I put it down and don't worry about it.
Maybe cuz most fiction that is allowed to be published these days is geared towards and/or written by women or from a certain ideology that doesn't appeal to most men?
Last year, I read 35 books by men and 23 by women, majority of which were published in the last 5-10 years, most 5 years or under. Of 4-5 million books published each year, I have a hard time believing it is all written to or for women or from a certain ideology. I guess you're also assuming the things I'm incredibly critical of in the exact same fiction your referencing somehow appeal to me and I have no issue finding things to read that I enjoy because I'm female and "it's all geared toward women" who clearly all enjoy the same things with no variation? Would you also suggest that the majority of American agents, being white, are also being racist and discriminating against nonwhite authors in the same way you assert they're sexist against men by women being the majority?
@@KirkpattieCakeThis is incoherent. Use punctuation. You can't just pick out the books you read as being representative of an industry. That's not a random sample. Even if the majority of agents in the literary industry are white, they are more likely to promote a nonwhite author for the being nonwhite than a white author for being white.
@@KirkpattieCake couldn’t agree more. also, this completely misses the point that women have had to read male centred stories for literally hundreds of years (if we were allowed to learn how to read, of course) and have done just fine. The perpetual task of reversing the fact that boys and men aren’t taught to be boys and men, they’re taught how to *not* be girls and women is exactly why this issue pops up all the time.
With your expertise in romantasy, I'd love to hear what your longform review of Arcane Gateway would be since you gave it a 5* and recommended it to female readers. Would be really interesting to see how it contrasts against the romantasies you've given 1*s. Especially since you don't seem to like romantasy, but that one got your rec.
there's a great RUclips channel, The Red-Pilled Fiction Factory where the guy interviews people and they're almost All guys who talk about what they're reading and how it inspired their work.
most men are not into hustle culture because it's a fad, they're into eat because they need to eat, it's true that reading is a waste of time, dudes have no time for that, there's only time for the grind.
@@acuerdox hustle culture is a mindset that prioritizes work above one's overall well-being and uses one's time spent working as a measure of discipline and morality. it is not simply the act of having a side hustle.
One of the things I've noticed from being immersed in terminally-online brainrot is that most people who mope that "Women should be more like this," or that "Men don't do enough of this," aren't actually referring to the actual flesh-and-blood human beings known as men and women; they're talking about groups as Platonic forms.
So I get the impression that these articles aren't saying "More boys need to read books," but are saying something more like: "Within my circle, the Concept of Men has become one of a creature who does not read enough of the books that are popular with my friends; and since I cannot distinguish the Concept of Men from actual mans, I am going to blame all the malefolk for my misdirected anger." It's a lot easier to pass judgement when groups are seen as things containing people-like-things, rather than as groupings people fit into.
I blame Aristotle.
When I finished art school after three years the first thing my father said was "What? You go work in a factory now?" BRUTAL.
I hope your channel blows up. A balanced voice, speaking on meaningful topics 🙏🏾
Wanna know if they took audiobook into consideration. Cause you see, as a man, there's a degree of time efficiency that comes with audiobooks that allows me to travel, work, do whatever while I'm listening to the story being told, especially if it's some real thick ass book like Imajica. To read, and I mean read as enter into a flow state of proper absorbing, you have to be still and focused, without distraction and that can be hard to do, due to our modern, often manic lifestyle and our deeply instilled fear of wasting precious time.
I have over 2K hours played in one shitty game that I am addicted to, so I kinda happen to be an expert on wasting time and I can certify that reading is not a waste of time.
I am a RUclipsr that encourages young men to read and write fiction because I believe being literate is valuable for our society. My discord server even hosts a writing group to encourage people to write more. However, I have found that traditional publishing is not what was 30 years ago. I noticed on QueryTracker that as "white male" that I was in the extreme minority of those who wanted to publish in my particular genre of fiction, and at one point even being told that my "voice" was not going to get traditionally published these days. So, I don't think we can rubbish indie publishing since it is the final refuge of dissonant voices. BTW, I really appreciated your balanced approach to this topic; it is most needed at this time.
I've been keeping an eye on the whole people not reading thing. Personally speaking they don't give kids reasons to read, (they being the poorly funded education departments around the country) nor did they care if you knew what was in the book.
Thank you! I don't know why this is an issue.
Personally, my interests lie in reading non-fiction , not fiction because it's more INTERESTING to me (am I not being womanly enough, for not conforming to the stereotype of the interests of my sex ? 😒 🙄)
I'll read a fictional book once in a blue moon but usually, I'll just read a manga (vintage horror manga from the sixties, seventies and eighties, is peakest of fiction and I'll die on that hill) if I wanted to read fiction for entertainment sake. It's easily digestible and takes up less time to get through. That's because I also, am interested in other hobbies, such as rock hounding and survivalist camping out in the woods. Foraging edible plants, hiking, spelunking.
Which leaves me wondering, why isn't it being pushed in the opposite way? Why isn't it a concern that women aren't reading more non-fiction? Isn't it important to understand history, sociology, sociopolitical theory? Considering this is necessary to understand the real world around us, around the events and situations that affects us in real time.
But either way, you can't FORCE peoples interests and reading fiction isn't the end all be all. Like you stated, there's only so much free time we have and plenty of things out there in the world to see and do. And if reading fiction isn't high on one's list, it doesn't put our entire civilization in a tailspin crisis. 🤦🏻♀️
@@kittykat896 totally agree. If someone says they don't care for video games, I wouldn't tell them they have to keep playing them until they find one they like lol
@brickcruz5325 exactly. But what's even more ridiculous is that it's inferred that they're not reading fiction. That it's not a reading issue cause they are reading. They're reading non-fiction....and somehow that's.....bad?
So, wtf? Ffs that's such a weird take to have.
@@kittykat896 I get it though. She's passionate about her craft and wants to get others excited about it too.
“Do you think there is trade off here, that some people are reading more, and some people are playing video games more…”
Most people I know who play a lot of video games have kids. It’s something they do as a family, or they have game nights, where the parents do RPG in one room while the kids play video games in another. I know several authors who also have game nights, either with friends or family. My Hubby enjoys video games, too. (We also enjoy a game of chess once in a while.)
Personally, I don’t play games of any kind, with the exception of chess.
I do think time is a huge factor. When you have to work three jobs for the basics, there’s not a lot of energy left over for recreation.
16:16 I think the author of this article has a personal agenda. Reading isn’t a sign of lazy indulgence. I’d be more critical of why our current economy is robbing everyone of the time needed to read than denigrate reading itself. And Andrew Tate? Seriously? I don’t know a single man who thinks that guy is worth listening to. Not. One.
21:04 I don’t consider my reading a social thing, as there aren’t many who read the way I do: I’ll read two different authors with opposite takes on a subject to compare and contrast the viewpoints. I do the same with fantasy books. As far as I know, few people do that outside of a class.
27:26 I agree. This kind of attitude is wrecking reading for many people. The whole concept of ‘sneaking education into a story’ is actually used to dump propaganda or porn where it has no business being.
40:12 The contrast in focus of this article to the first one is stark. Much prefer the Jason Diamond piece.
I couldn’t access the NYT piece. (Paywall)
Overall: I remember watching Ghostbusters in 1985, laughing when Egon Spengler stated “Print is dead.” As long as there are people with a cultural love of literature and books, it’ll be around. Will it get ‘Fahrenheit 451” bad? I’m sure there’re people out there who’d enjoy that, others that fear it. I prefer to encourage people to read whatever peaks their interest in fiction, and read as much as they can on how to create-and go do it.
Good video to start off the New Year.
I’ve mentioned before that during my first year as a high school teacher, most of my bookworms were girls while to a one, almost all of my boys were weebs. Personally, I think the problem is that the biggest genre at the moment is romantasy, a genre written by women for women. (Let’s just ignore the overwhelming popularity of romcom anime targeting young men.) If you’re a young man, you have Neal Shusterman and arguably Pierce Brown. Otherwise you have to look to adult writers like Stephen King or Brandon Sanderson.
I think a huge issue about reading today is that most booktubers, booktokers etc. treat reading like activism instead of you know, a hobby . Like I’ve had up to here with the discourse that all reading is political( along with everything else, which is not healthy).
My husband and I are avid readers in very different genres (and can be quite dangerous together in a bookstore lol), but besides a handful of contemporary authors we each follow , we stick to used bookstores because the “message” of both sides has just gotten irritating at this point. In sum I agree that we need to go back to reading fiction for fun and recommending books based on what you think someone would like instead of what “should” be read because [insert stupid culture war thing here ]
Let's promote audiobooks for boys. As a gamer, I often listen to books and podcasts while I play. It keeps my body focused on something, especially with games like Minecraft, where the gameplay becomes almost mechanical.
@@samantaluna3870 I love Audiobooks. I listen to them while I workout, when I'm at work, when I walk the dog, while I game. It's how I do the vast majority of my book consumption.
1:50 The hell? Reading textbooks is the one thing that's common across all standard classes. Minus shop stuff and gym I guess.
3:00 “What do you think? What do you notice?” (Regarding straight men not reading books)
My Hubby reads as much or more than I do, and we share books and series between us. His coworkers (software engineers and engineers) are also avid readers. They have to be to stay up to date on white papers and other aspects of their jobs. I do have friends who are not strictly book readers.
They are devoted to other media like theater (especially local theater productions), music (several are in local bands), and movies (home made and locally produced). Everyone I know with small children and young adults also read.
It seems like this has been a thing for decades. I remember there being a lot popular male MC books when I was coming up. Artemis Fowl, Darren Shan, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Alex Rider books, Eragon. Still, I also remember seeing news about the decline in reading amongst young boys back then.
*All this to say, I'm not sure if it's due to a lack of male leads, which is sometimes suggested.
I'm a dude and my kindle is filled with 1500 ebooks and every single one is fiction. Mostly fantasy, sci-fi and urban fantasy. At least Amazon knows what I like to read.
The time management of reading probably also depends on your opinion of audiobooks. I draw during the week after work, Saturdays are for world of Warcraft/personal gaming, and Sundays I play online with my brothers and sister. I can and do listen to Audible all through this time, except Sundays. And I've amassed a pretty extensive list of finished books on there.
I tried to read a physical book in the traditional way a while back and it took me over a year. I just have trouble making the time. Even my comics tend to sit around for about a week before I can get to them.
Yeah, I can’t get into audio books. Not sure why. My mind wanders unless I have either a book or Kindle in my hands.
@@spookyfirst9514I can understand that. I actually tend to have that problem with physical books. I've somehow developed the ability to read an entire page while simultaneously spacing out. Then I have to go back and reread the page.
Id probably read more of I had someplace to escape to for some peace and quiet. As it stands right now when I do read physical books I have to pop iny ear buds and play thunderstorms. That always helps. There's nothing like reading during a thunderstorm.
@@hpgwellscraft my favorite is Jurassic Park Rain, I put that on in the mornings to have that all important first cup of coffee.
@@spookyfirst9514 I'll have to try that with tomorrows coffee! Thanks for the recommendation! 🤜🤛
@@hpgwellscraft you’re most welcome.
I remember being a huge fantasy book nerd when i was younger, but now my reading stamina has plummeted.
Meanwhile social media claws me back whenever i try and escape it.
On the topic of being a market that's seen (and therefore served) by publishers: I buy at least a dozen novels each year, but I doubt that the publishing industry receives any feedback from my purchasing habits, because I buy almost all of them at used bookstores. I read mostly genre fiction (as you can probably guess by the username), and as far as I can tell genre fiction genre fiction peaked 40 years ago. Not sure what the solution is there; I stopped going to new book retailers because they never had anything that interested me. I'm not going to buy books I don't want to read to send a message to publishers, and I doubt anyone else would. I occasionally purchase a newer book, usually on Amazon, which has its own problems. Short version: Amazon is a good place to find a specific book, but a terrible place to browse.
As to why men don't read, there are many reasons, but the public school system is certainly part of the problem. Being forced to read is never going to endear people to the medium in the first place. The school curricula compound the issue with boys by not assigning the types of fiction they enjoy. Boys tend to enjoy fantasy, horror, science fiction, mystery and adventure stories. Can't speak for everyone, but I went to a decent school system and was in the advanced classes for English. In my entire track through primary/secondary school, the only time I read anything from those genres for school was when I chose it as part of an assignment which let you pick what book you read. You want boys to grow up to be fiction readers? Wuthering Heights and the Handmaid's Tale aren't going to do it. Assign them to read Jack London, Sir Walter Scott, Edgar Rice Burroughs, HG Wells, Raymond Chandler, Alexandre Dumas, etc.
Also, no. Assuming that women dominating publishing might be biasing the industry against men does not require you to also believe that white people dominating the industry must also be biasing it against nonwhites. It is considered socially acceptable for women to intentionally advantage themselves as a group at the expense of men. It is not socially acceptable for whites to advantage themselves at the expense of nonwhites. It's just different incentives.
I enjoy your channel by the way. Keep it up.
Interesting subject and takes as always. My experience as straight, mostly-white male: Im not much of a reader BUT I love writing for some reason lol. I believe it comes down to preference. As boys most of us preferred running around outside, rough housing, playing sports. The media we do enjoy is typically more a physical experience as well. Though watching TV/movies and playing video games is physically passive, it still engages eyes and ears. Books engage the mind and imagination more. Every woman I know reads at least a couple books a year if not more. Most men I know don't.
I may be bias and grew up in the US around people who did have an anti-intellectual leaning for sure. That mindset is still ingrained in me, and probably a controversial take, but anti-intellectualism plays a necessary role in society as does academia - same way that the political Left needs the political Right to keep itself in check and vise versa.
When I decided to become a writer about 14 years ago, I hadn't read since college. My writing sucked since I was a beginner, so I joined critique groups. They told me I HAD to read if I was to be a good writer. I didn't disagree. So I read a lot of books and disliked most of them, though I did find some gems like On the Hook by Francisco Stork and Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. They had relatable characters or arcs, and people who grew up in circumstances more like mine.
That said, I still don't read just for the thrill of it. I read fiction to improve my craft so in a way it's still more about helping me be productive than having a good time lol. It is hard to find stuff I like, and to be honest, I don't think I have to. If I liked reading more then I would search for books I would enjoy. Most stuff that comes into my consumer vision is fantasy which I'm not big on. It's not my fault that's what mostly gets pushed. I will start reading it but that's only because I plan on starting a fantasy series myself. Why do I like to create in a media I don't consume? Wish I could tell ya, but I don't know myself...
Male genre readership is an untapped market. There are smaller platforms which are geared towards them, and they're steadily growing, especially with younger male readers. This demographic has a strong desire for storytelling but it's repeatedly betrayed by the current stance of existing institutions and subversive products that have repeatedly offered one thing and provided another.
The main issue is the adversarial approach in even engaging with this segment of the population in general. Each article read in this video took the same stance: whatever is viewed by these article writers as positive, cram it down the throat of those who wouldn't ever be interested in such things. e.g. Fourth Wing. This attitude makes it seem like they just want maximum resistance at every turn.
Respectfully, I disagree that there isn't some sort of affinity between male writers and male readers. I think this is the fundamental disconnect between all of these articles. This isn't to say a woman writer can't author for a male audience, I can name a series off the top of my head which would make that a false statement: The Dragonlance Chronicles -- but if we're going to be holistic in our approach to figuring out what's going wrong and where, it would be the last article discussed, where male writers are being actively sandbagged in the publishing pipeline. There are specific story archetypes that are innately expressed by male writers that a male readership will most likely gravitate toward. Simple market dynamics: if the market isn't being satisfied, it goes elsewhere.
I don't think young males are being left behind in general, as far as maturity. They've been abandoned by existing institutions and the means by which these metrics are gathered are simply measuring this neglect. Young men are engaging in hard hitting topics and deeper issues on their own terms because they're forced to find other ways to learn. So they're going to go to alternative sources e.g. Joe Rogan, et al, to understand the world. Their ability to write about topics and willingness to simply read sources given by existing institutions is likely lower. This is because they're essentially being forced to partake in oral tradition via podcasts to gather information about the world.
If you want to court a male audience, it has to be almost a caricature of masculine-oriented tropes in order to entice and earn the trust of new readership simply for the aforementioned reasons. I think that the collective push back and cultural u-turn in video game spaces shows the ways that this is possible in any medium. The same marketing methodologies by which you attract a male audience with video games today will also draw the same kind of a readership.
I've yet to meet any man under the age of 35 who actually listens to Joe Rogan
@thechumbucket8986 I've met plenty. I'm sure it depends on social circles. The point wasn't specifically Rogan, but podcasters with similar talking points.
>Reading is an indulgence
Huh? Maybe. But then again so are a lot of things. I don't read most fiction. I do like short stories, generally avoid novels. In fact, I once borrowed The Last Wish from a friend (waaaay before the video game made it cool, ok?). Loved it! Then I borrowed Blood of Elves. Couldn't make it past the second chapter. Of course, neither of those were originally in English, but I don't think that was the determining factor. Some novels can pull me in. I haven't figured out the formula, but I don't worry about it. If I feel inspired to read something, I read. If I feel compelled to keep reading, I do, otherwise, I put it down and don't worry about it.
26:24 😂😂😂
Maybe cuz most fiction that is allowed to be published these days is geared towards and/or written by women or from a certain ideology that doesn't appeal to most men?
Last year, I read 35 books by men and 23 by women, majority of which were published in the last 5-10 years, most 5 years or under. Of 4-5 million books published each year, I have a hard time believing it is all written to or for women or from a certain ideology. I guess you're also assuming the things I'm incredibly critical of in the exact same fiction your referencing somehow appeal to me and I have no issue finding things to read that I enjoy because I'm female and "it's all geared toward women" who clearly all enjoy the same things with no variation?
Would you also suggest that the majority of American agents, being white, are also being racist and discriminating against nonwhite authors in the same way you assert they're sexist against men by women being the majority?
@@KirkpattieCakeThis is incoherent. Use punctuation.
You can't just pick out the books you read as being representative of an industry. That's not a random sample.
Even if the majority of agents in the literary industry are white, they are more likely to promote a nonwhite author for the being nonwhite than a white author for being white.
@@KirkpattieCake couldn’t agree more. also, this completely misses the point that women have had to read male centred stories for literally hundreds of years (if we were allowed to learn how to read, of course) and have done just fine. The perpetual task of reversing the fact that boys and men aren’t taught to be boys and men, they’re taught how to *not* be girls and women is exactly why this issue pops up all the time.
I don't read novels...
I critique them.
i mean… that much is obvious. 😂😂😂
😆😆😆😆
With your expertise in romantasy, I'd love to hear what your longform review of Arcane Gateway would be since you gave it a 5* and recommended it to female readers. Would be really interesting to see how it contrasts against the romantasies you've given 1*s. Especially since you don't seem to like romantasy, but that one got your rec.
Always love people's takes about things that work for them in a media that normally does not.
@KirkpattieCake I imagine my opinion might be different after 4 years of reading and reviewing books.
there's a great RUclips channel, The Red-Pilled Fiction Factory where the guy interviews people and they're almost All guys who talk about what they're reading and how it inspired their work.
most men are not into hustle culture because it's a fad, they're into eat because they need to eat, it's true that reading is a waste of time, dudes have no time for that, there's only time for the grind.
for most people, indulging in hustle culture doesn't actually result in more financial stability
@thechumbucket8986 indulging XD, people are desperate for a rescue. That unemployment rate is going up.
@@acuerdox hustle culture is a mindset that prioritizes work above one's overall well-being and uses one's time spent working as a measure of discipline and morality. it is not simply the act of having a side hustle.
do you really still care if the idiots ruin everything? :->