To what extent is the contention that men are falling behind in life accurate?

OddSeraph · 2025-09-10T22:45:16+00:00

I know the one about men just not reading that you see parroted on social media is just plain false.

From the studies I've seen most agree it's like a 5 to 10 percent difference between the amount of women and men reading but the number of readers is increasing each year.

But if you'd only go on social media you'd think the difference is 50 percent and that the amount of male readers is drastically decreasing.

Local-Willingness784 · 2025-09-10T23:06:51+00:00

i think its weird that the woman who posted that on Twitter uses biological arguments not to be attracted to "those beneath her" but would surely get mad as hell if some guy "above" her cheated because men naturally want to impregnate as many women as they can or some shit like that, or if he rejected her because of her age or a lack of curves or some shit like that

and more on topic there are many metrics in which men are failling but its weird that instead of asking why that is the case or what can be done to fix those problems, people rush to either blame men for stuff they cant control, humble brag about not being like that (or not being a man) do whatever bullshit that woman or go mask off and say that men are a problem to solve not people with problems to be helped. its all a shitshow and should encourage to not waste energy on helping or supporting casues for people who wouldnt do the same for us in the same circumstances, like most women, or most of society really.

MelissaMiranti · 2025-09-10T22:25:31+00:00

Men aren't "falling behind" so much as being intentionally held back. Teachers give worse grades to boys and punish them more often and more harshly for the same infractions. Boys are more often victims of infanticide. Genital mutilation is legal against boys. Boys and men are more often victims of violent crime. Young men get a fraction of the scholarship support that young women do. Young men are paid less and less often hired than young women. Men are more likely to be homeless. Men are far more likely to be without any kind of help in the case of sexual or domestic violence. The vast majority of men who commit suicide tried to get help, but they didn't get any. Men work more hours in more dangerous professions. Men are subject to forced military service. Men have worse health outcomes at basically every age.

1bnna2bnna3bnna · 2025-09-11T11:32:01+00:00

More boys fail to come to term, more die in early childhood. This was always true. What has changed is that their ECD goals are delayed, their literacy is behind, they complete school at lower rates, matriculate less often to university and are over represented in the NEET statistics. These are not opinions. I've spent 30 years in Australian government's watching this unfold in the official data - of one the most advanced and equal societies in Earth. Young men are rightly concerned. For most men it is far too late.

DBD_killermain82 · 2025-09-11T01:51:35+00:00

Men are not falling behind they are being held back. Men false structural violence and discrimination. The men falling back narrative is gaslighting.

theMostProductivePro · 2025-09-11T12:54:20+00:00

well education, healthcare and every social service are much more available to women. The homeless rate is 5 times greater for men for the same reasons. There is appropriate investment in services for women, but not men. It's not really a mystery.

POO_IN_A_LOO · 2025-09-11T08:36:53+00:00

surely from the pedestal of privilege it will be harder to find someone better off than you

frogjokeholder · 2025-09-10T22:22:43+00:00

The question is, by whose standards? I'm not sure I care for some societal standard of achievement or behaviour being foisted upon me, and then furthermore, being told I'm 'falling behind'' in achieving this ideal that has been created by someone else, with what motive I don't know.

"Falling behind" suggests some kind of competition, where everyone works hard to keep up. Personally, I've "fallen behind" in what society expects of me, thank goodness. It was a terrible burden to feel I had to "succeed" somehow in a way the wider society approved of.

It's not exclusive to men, women too are oppressed in different ways by the standards that society seeks to impose on them. It's a bad deal all round.

AnFGhoster · 2025-09-12T09:03:59+00:00

It's certainly true in all levels of education from primary to secondary education. This has knock on effects to all areas of life after school but especially employment.

I went and grabbed some links from an old comment.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-male-college-crisis-is-not-just-in-enrollment-but-completion/

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_318.10.asp?current=yes A breakdown of sex and degree type by year.

Here's some more reading material on the matter.

The BBC source points out this is a trend across 60 different counties observed by the OECD. In fact it opens with this fact:

An OECD report on gender in education, across more than 60 countries, found that girls receive higher marks compared with boys of the same ability.
[...]
But it also reveals that teachers can be biased towards giving girls higher results than boys, even when they have produced the same quality of work.

West_Problem_4436 · 2025-09-12T01:30:22+00:00

Social media definetly skews things a bit but the underlying trend is real and has been for decades. Young males see no reason for higher education in a broken system that does not work to better young men. all their needs are mostly met through exploiting the system through friends, drugs and social media to get drugs

MultipolarityEnjoyer · 2025-09-12T02:43:22+00:00

More non-American sources would benefit the conversation.

Initial_Zebra100 · 2025-09-11T07:32:34+00:00

It's hard to say because social media is the monster that covers everything. Women still face opposition in other countries to even attend education.

That said, less and less men are entering higher education. I think more women have started graduating college in developed countries. Richard Reeves sort of addresses this. But he plays it safe.

A lack of male teachers. Boys being treated differently in school, hell, the way they're socilised from young childhood. Scholarships for women in many industries. Men going into trades or genuinely falling behind in life.

The problem is, whilst this a concerning trend, plenty of people, including women, see this acknowledgement as either:

Women simply worked harder and applied themselves better. Some truth here.
Men aren't held back. They're not trying hard enough. They're given up. Also, some harsh truth.
Addressing this issue is a personal attack on women's success and autonomy.

This is the biggest obstacle. When women overtake men, it's seen as empowering and a success story. When men overtake women, it's seen as a problem. There's a concern addressing mens issues will drag women down.

Title	To what extent is the contention that men are falling behind in life accurate?
Author	emaxwell14141414
Upvotes	89
Comments	39
Date	September 10, 2025 8:24 PM UTC (10 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/1ndpa7f/to_what_extent_is_the_contention_that_men_are/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/to-what-extent-is-the-contention-that-men-are.1561730 https://theredarchive.com/post/1561730

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