Comment of the Day:
"I'll agree to be a 1950's stereotype of a man if women agree to be a 1950's stereotype of a woman." – whogas
Men must "man up" using "industriousness, marriage and religion," writes former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett. Women now hold more college degrees, and male unemployment is at 20%. Worse yet, he writes, older men now spend more time playing video games than do teenage boys.
CNN.com readers disagreed about his definition of "success" and particularly about those video games.
drewscriver said, "This is one of the daftest articles I have read in a long time. Religion, marriage, and work are the values of a society? What about lack of responsibility for actions, and absence of critical thinking skills!"
kogonon said, "I think there are more definitions of men than a 1950's 'Father Knows Best' image. Males are just as dynamic and complicated as women are, they just don't show it because of societal norms."
insulted05 said, "Video games are the death of the modern man? I have two Masters and work three teaching jobs, including one full-time, and help out with the housework. I spend every night with family and take care of most of our home improvement projects. All of that ...and I LOVE video games. All of my close friends (a general manager, pharmacist, chiropractor, and police officer) love video games, and we play them together when we can.They are exemplary men, husbands, and fathers."
coates32 said, "OK, I'm a gamer and I'm disgusted that someone Mr. Bennett would even write an offensive, bigoted article like this. Women aren't trying to 'take down the man.' They just want to improve their lives, like everyone else. And the bit about blaming games for 'the decine of men,' even though 40 percent of gamers (or more) are female, is just idiotic."
obinthakur said, "This article doesn't take into account how society and expectations have now changed since the 60's. Religion is irrelevant to the argument (I'm from the UK and have rarely come into contact with anybody claiming to be religious in the last 2 decades), and it is possible to live a perfectly happy life without getting marrried and having children."
AmoItaliano said, "My girlfriend and I have 2 girls, 2 and 4 years old. My job allows me to spend a great deal of time at home with my kiddos. I have become an expert in my girls' favorite toys, foods, clothes, bedtime stories, and ways to braid hair. I take them to all their doctors appointments. I am up all night tonight with a sick kiddo sleeping on my lap as I type away on the computer. Being a dad is absolutely the coolest thing any guy could ever want to do."
Do your views align with these commenters' thoughts? Post a comment below or sound off on video.
Compiled by the CNN.com moderation staff. Some comments edited for length or clarity.
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@leeintulsa:
"Real Men" is Philip. Need I say more?
WHAT ONES OPINION OR IDEA OF WHAT ADULTS DO WITH THE CHANGING TIMES IS MINISCULE TO WHATS GOING ON IN REALITY! PEOPLE NEED THEIR PRIVACY, SPACE, & RESPECT. THEY DONT NEED INDIVIDUALS POINTING THE FINGER WITH THEIR IDEOLOGY! BY THE WAY WHERES THE STATISTICS ON HOW AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN FEEL ABOUT THE SAFETY THAT THE GOVERMENTS GIVING THEM TO KEEP THEIR COMMUNITIES SAFE? THAT SHOULD KEEP YOU BUSY HAVE A NICE DAY.
hey banasy i see the more than slightly inebriated pink elephant is back at it again! you would think he would get a clue huh? and personally i would rather have a man playin games than gettin piggy drunk and abusing every one around him! he needs a life
Wow what a stupid article. Obviously the person who wrote this can't comprehend how to play a video game.
also "real men" dont claim someone theyve met on a blog site but really dont know as their girlfriend!!! thats a delusion which someone with a severe debilitating addiction does. most of us know more about said gf than real men only cuz shes afraid of him
And in my former life i built atari games so i think gaming is the cats azz and it is a family thing which has to be a good thing!
@chrissy:
You used to build Atari games?
Whoa.
You were there at the very beginning, weren't you?
Awesome!
So real men? What your saying that your ideal of a good time slaughtering human beings? Sure glad you clarified that cuz those of us that know WHO you are wouldve never guessed. All i can say is, u go with ur dad self! No really! GO! lol
well yea girl i was in electronics. we built circuit boards for unisys, rowe, stryker medicdal, diebold, siemens electrocom just to mame a few. some of our boards are presently falling from the sky lol nasa boards. i told u i was in electronics 4 yrs lol
Just to clarify i meant for years not 4. Actually it was for decades. Lol
Not according to popular opinion. Popular opinion states that their is no 'ideal' man, just shades of grey. If your father wasn't a real man, in order to become one yourself you must go-back and raise yourself all over again. This takes time away from the boob tube, and so few are the ones who become real men. Most just change the dictionary word 'real' for the video game 'fantasy', and defend their gaming with what little honor they have left. And most buy-into it...or borrow into it rather.
No, according to most. For he exposed the god of War, he didn't play it for mindless hours on end. And everyone knows that real men are gamers by now.
Wha–?
I didn't even know what the word "gamer" meant in the context of this headline.
I agree with banasy about this article: baloney.
My POV:
How could any man have time to escape into video games and still ADEQUATELY support his wife and children?
How can one support himself as a bachelor anD play video games?
Say–ya' know what?
These questions might have some relationship to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.
Ah, the glory of computer developers!
chrissy–
I'm really impressed that you did that work.
I'm so bad with computer stuff that I went scampering to find something similar that I can do.
I came up with innovative piano fingerings. That'll have to do.
@ leeintulsa:
Just so I'm clear:
I'm sure that you couldn't do the kind of "escaping" into video games that I mentioned.
You accomplish too much to be abusing any kind of entertainment.
I spend time posting here, and I still accomplish so much that everybody around me constantly tells me to slow down.