Are men lonelier?

aslfingerspell · 2026-03-19T23:58:31+00:00

I know you disclaim this but "lonely" in a lot of these discussions is a euphemism for sex, because openly wanting sex as a man is seen as predatory and shameful.

Either way, my take is that we are social primates, and we need social approval as a mental health need. No, "sex" and "validation" are not "needs" like food or water, but you can't expect people to be mentally healthy without some of it. We're not entitled it from any particular person, but as social animals we "need" it from somewhere to live our best lives.

Ultimately, sexual relationships are a form of social interaction, and if men don't get that, they can say they are "lonely" in a way platonic companionship doesn't.

RelevantEscape4535 · 2026-03-20T00:26:21+00:00

Copy pasta

There’s a shit ton of data showing men are actually more socially isolated, fewer/ close friendships, less emotional support, and higher rates of loneliness/ suicide overall.

Data thats been around for decades. the lone wolf sterotype/ has been recognized and pinned on men for generations.

AlarmingArm9919 · 2026-03-20T00:24:10+00:00

absolutely,

hell, "lone wolf badass who never needs anyone" is maybe the most common masculine ideal in our culture

RelativeYak7 · 2026-03-20T04:57:38+00:00

I'm lonely but I like it and choose it. It is my preference

mikiencolor · 2026-03-20T00:25:05+00:00

I think so. I've met a lot of women who are alone but don't report feeling lonely. Some even say they like being alone. I honestly think they're just more mentally resilient to it for whatever reason. They don't tend to anguish over it as much as we do. I don't know why. It depends on the individual, but I do see that tendency. We aren't coping as well with the atomization of modern society and the end of local community. We're less individualistic.

I also meet many more romantic men than romantic women, though I think it's still a minority of both sexes. We fantasize more about being loved and making the people who love us happy. We have more rescue and hero fantasies. Famously, we tend more to prefer dogs to cats, because we like the neediness. We like feeling needed.

thediablowizard · 2026-03-20T12:04:52+00:00

65% of men aged 18-35 are single, while 25% of women are. This means for every woman who is dating a man there is a second woman also dating the same man. On average.

So yeah, men are very lonely right now. Fewer young men are getting the relationship experience they need to be fathers and instead look like androgynous retards who actually bought into the be yourself kool-aid.

like honestly i look at young men these days when out at an event and go LOL. You see the red pilled chads with their hot ladies and then the incels just unaware that the red pilled chads are winning and the andro incels are losing.

Outside_Memory5703 · 2026-03-19T23:27:56+00:00

And why are you lonely? Does that apply to other men, in your opinion?

LaFrescaTrumpeta · 2026-03-20T07:35:07+00:00

on average yeah, loneliness is trending up in general but the data i’ve seen suggests it’s impacting more men. my understanding is that one major factor is that girls and women are socialized to be more social in contrast to men being socialized to show zero vulnerability (birthplace of emotional intimacy) to anyone, those two factors alone contribute to men having smaller and/or less intimate social networks. if im experiencing a hardship i have a decent number of people i can lean on and i feel comfortable/safe from rejection to actually do it, a ton of men have neither.

when it comes to romantic loneliness i’ve also experienced large gaps of time being single (7 years is my “record” as an adult) and i dont think i’d have been able to get through those periods without my network being there for me. ive always wondered if one of the reasons “making friends helps ease romantic loneliness” gets pushback by a certain subset of guys is bc we have different ideas of what constitutes friendship. if someone’s experiences with friendships basically amounts to shared hobbies then it makes sense to me why they’d be skeptical of friendships easing romantic loneliness. for me, my friendships are defined by emotional intimacy, some of my friendships are 80% as emotional intimate as my romantic relationships are, and that makes it easier to manage my desire for that extra 20% + sexual intimacy

certainly isn’t the only factor but it’s a big one. and it starts with fucked up gendered socialization, we mentally and emotionally fuck over boys starting in toddlerhood with some of the messages they’re subjected to, including but not limited to “crying is for insert misogynistic/homophobic/anti-feminine slur here”

NotYourMainCharacter · 2026-03-20T22:03:10+00:00

I’ve seen stats floating around online that Gen Z is, regardless of gender, having less sex. And let’s be honest, I think that’s what a lot of men mean by lonely. Men report more sexlessness (31% vs 19%), but women are creeping up there. That said, still a clear discrepancy. Women can get sex more easily. No argument there.

I would like to point out that sex alone isn’t all that fun for a lot of women. It can be really lonely to think a person cares about you only to learn they just wanted your body. That kind of betrayal cuts deep, especially if it happens repeatedly. For a sex starved person, though, being desired at all probably sounds like a dream.

We deal in different varieties of loneliness.

fucksiclepizza · 2026-03-19T23:37:33+00:00

Men are more vocal about their loneliness.

IndependentNew7750 · 2026-03-20T00:39:44+00:00

Virtually every study on this suggests that men and women report the same level of loneliness and the same number of friends. So, I don’t really think the male loneliness epidemic is a real thing.

DriverInitial8305 · 2026-03-19T23:44:26+00:00

Yes.

oppositegeneva · 2026-03-19T23:57:04+00:00

Yes.

Emotional_Meal748 · 2026-03-20T00:26:35+00:00

I think women are actually lonelier but women are comfortable being lonely. Men are not. You could argue that generally, men are more extroverted and women are more introverted

BestPlant6968 · 2026-03-19T23:12:58+00:00

Women (generalization coming) work much harder than men to maintain and invest in friendships and familial ties. It makes sense that those friendships and ties would be stronger and buffer feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Men could do the same, many just choose not to.

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Ego73 · 2026-03-20T07:12:09+00:00

I'd say I'm pretty lonely, due to a variety of factors that have little to do with dating. I'm fine with that.

anewleaf1234 · 2026-03-20T16:58:12+00:00

Men spend less time on generating or maintaining social networks than women do. They tend to spend more time online, by themselves. And they tend to have less friends than women do.

socraticsnail · 2026-03-22T14:09:55+00:00

Men are more conditioned into individualism and stoicism. Men are deconditioned from forming meaningful alliances with their fellow men. Methinks it’s a move to disempower you all.

lesliecarbone · 2026-03-19T23:56:58+00:00

I'm not lonely because I intentionally nurture relationships with family and friends, am active in my home community, and participate in groups related to my intellectual interests.

Axis_Control · 2026-03-20T08:36:02+00:00

No they just whine more than women

Substantial-Fly4895 · 2026-03-19T23:58:51+00:00

I find that they usually are but at the same time they’re more “ok with being lonely” than women

Whiskeymyers75 · 2026-03-20T03:53:09+00:00

I have lots of friends. I’m still lonely as fuck. Loneliness isn’t always about how many people are around you. I keep myself busy all day but eventually have to face it. Im so sick of people, especially women saying men are only lonely because they lack friendships.

Independent-Mail-227 · 2026-03-19T23:28:27+00:00

Seems like men are lonelier than women

Yes, they are.

overall women seem to have much closer friendships.

They seem to due to being conflict averse and performative in their social duties. When a woman remember another person birthday as example is not because she care about the person but because she have the social expectations of caring for birthdays and such dates.

This is why at the single point of conflict female friendship falls apart, since the social expectations and gains are removed they see no reason to stick together.

gtbreddit1 · 2026-03-19T23:45:08+00:00

No.

But it isn't socially acceptable or sympathetic for men to complain about lacking sex and sexual validation from women, so they rebrand it as "loneliness" to make it more palatable. That's why it seems like men are more lonely.

Lysa_Bell · 2026-03-20T13:12:41+00:00

Not really.

Everyone is more lonely nowadays. But the patriarchy markets it different to different genders. While women are supposed to be nurturing and build networks, which is marketed as a feminine trait. While men are supposed to be stoic and manly and alone. All of this is a way to keep a gender war going which makes it more profitable for our capitalism overlords. It also makes it easier to control men. Men with no connection, purpose or intimacy are easier to be send into useless wars or make them wage slaves. It does usually have the pushback that sexless lonely men are attacking the government and become dangerous but now we have porn and AI they can also pay for to fill some of that issue. Its all about the money 💰

Title	Are men lonelier?
Author	GarfeildHouse
Upvotes	17
Comments	142
Date	March 19, 2026 9:45 PM UTC (4 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/1rydg28/are_men_lonelier/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/are-men-lonelier.1575927 https://theredarchive.com/post/1575927

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