Support NeoGAF

[M3d10n]

Dat free time.

 

[Jenov]

Half....

Unless there's a cheating clause in the pre-nup!

 

[The Albatross]

Cheating is wrong and awful but there are probably other logical reasons in addition to the simplified "Men who make less money are less manly so they feel more manly by fucking women" argument...

Men who are 100% dependent on their spouses, so I suppose it's fair to suggest that they're not economically viable. This isn't just breadwinning, where one spouse makes more than the other, even if it's just a few thousand dollars, this is 100% financial dependence. So, arguably, wife makes enough money for both of them, so husband, arguably, stays home during the day.

Generally, if you don't go to work during the day, and you do things either around town, with the kids, like errands and so forth, you're going to notice that there are far more women at these events than men. Further, in the "working world" because of gender inequality, men who are at work more consistently are likely to be around more men... And this varies from industry to industry but it's still generally true that there are more working men and more non-working women.

So, I think this is a numbers game.

Men who are 100% dependent are not working.
If they are not working they are necessarily around fewer men.
If they are not working they are probably around more women in non-working situations.

Seems arguable at least.

 

[YoungHav]

Where are the numbers to back up that first part?

Anyway, the article just talks about financial dependence and doesn't mention anything about having kids.

I have seen lists and articles on who men more likely cheat with and co-worker is at the top most of the time.

 

[Kasumin]

"I think it has to do with our cultural notions of what it means to be a man and what ... the social expectations are for masculinity," the study author, Christin Munsch, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut, told CNN.

Being economically dependent on their wives may threaten their manhood, Munsch said, and having an affair is a way to re-establish their masculinity, even if it's all done subconsciously.
"There's plenty of great literature showing how when men in particular undergo gender identity threats, they engage in hypermasculine behaviors," she said.

Masculinity is such a toxic concept. It makes life less pleasant for men and women alike. One of the biggest problems with masculinity is that anything not masculine is generally considered "feminine." There's no in-between in most cases and the feminine is often construed as inferior. I've met so many guys who experience a lot of anxiety in certain situations due to a societal expectation to be "manly." In most cases, they don't even realize what's causing them anxiety.

I've read studies arguing that adolescents lead healthier lives when gender norms aren't impressed on them. I'm tired of gender norms in general. I mean, they're inevitable, but I think we could really dial them back a bit nowadays. It'd do most people a world of good. Naive of me, yes. I'm pretty sure the way I think is still heavily impacted by gender norms. I just wish more people were aware of them and more willing to push back against them.

In any case, it's interesting to see how things change as shifting labor practices leads to more women making more money in general. There was a thread earlier linking to an article arguing that changing labor practices has been worse for working-class men than women. That article also pointed to gender norms as a factor.