The Male Loneliness Epidemic:The self-implosion of patriarchal reproductionand capitalist enmeshment. By A.R.Arthur

It’s 2025 and the burden of the patriarchy is weighing heavily on those who choose to wield it at

will, apply it when they deem necessary. DEFINE

The rise of the framing and nature of the so called ‘male loneliness epidemic’ is particularly

intriguing to me as it is both used by supposed ‘hyper-masculine’ influencers to advocate for

greater male domination and a return to a conservative past, however, in victimising themselves,

these harbingers of traditional patriarchy become the very thing they claim to hate; victim men.

For such a return necessitates an acknowledgement of having failed currently. It is these such

wholesale hypocrisies that lead me away from sympathy and instead, frustration, at the further

weaponisation of human spirit by the patriarchy.

You cannot help someone

who won’t help themself.

If the manufacturing of a ‘epidemic’ or crisis similar to that of the crisis of masculinity, first

theorised in the 1990s and early 2000s, is meant to be about solving a real social issue it would

be rooted in self-critique and reflection, perhaps through alternative epistemologies. Instead, it

resorts to blaming women once again as the patriarchy always has done.

What is most strange and pervasive in terms of this debate is the hypersexuality that still exists

within it. Whether that be in the context of homosexual hyper sexualisation, the rise of porn

culture with all genders, sexual orientations and fantasy beliefs, suggests that the male loneliness

epidemic is singularly centred on sex and sexual desire. This epidemic has been centred around

both friendships and romantic desire.

On one hand, this epidemic is discussed in relation to sexual and romantic desire. The rise of

incel groups and the creation of ‘red-pill’ young men who seek a fabricated sense of

conservativism which, they believe, necessitates traditional gendered patriarchy typically

attached to a capitalism that ironically does not serve such ideals in the contemporary,

postmodern era.

This can be taken further by the treating of acts of non-sexual intimacy between male friends as

leading into homoeroticism or homosexual behaviour. Take for example, the ‘that’s gay bro’

cultural trope used by men and boys regarding acts of intimacy between other hetero men.

Arguably, this gendered, arbitrary division in terms of loneliness is simply the result of bitter

men and the unravelling of traditional patriarchal dominance alongside the very patriarchal

norms and values which prohibit non-sexual intimate connection to men and romantic and sexual

interest leading to heteronormative relationships. This affirms that the patriarchy itself is

responsible for both sides whilst also suggesting that greater focus on global loneliness and the

collapse of social bonds as a result of hyper individualism and late-stage capitalism has led to a

slowly unfurling societal collapse of connection. The very basis of the human spirit.

So where do we go from here? Even with the basic assumption that some number of men

identifying with said crisis, do for non-selfish, patriarchal reasons, a complete social

restructuring that builds positively on a masculinity stripped of brutish patriarchal influence and

domination is the only way to ensure the complete destruction of the root cause of this male

suffering, and that of women. A radical approach to radicalised patriarchy is essential to quash its

goals.