via Breitbart: (Part 1) & (Part 2):
and via Slate:
Japanese companies are worried that herbivorous boys aren’t the status-conscious consumers their parents once were. They love to putter around the house. According to Media Shakers’ research, they are more likely to want to spend time by themselves or with close friends, more likely to shop for things to decorate their homes, and more likely to buy little luxuries than big-ticket items. They prefer vacationing in Japan to venturing abroad. They’re often close to their mothers and have female friends, but they’re in no rush to get married themselves, according to Maki Fukasawa, the Japanese editor and columnist who coined the term in NB Online in 2006.
All 3 articles are worth a read even if you’re not male and not in the age where you should be out courting someone of the opposite sex. I’ve met a lot of men who have checked-out of the dating world, they spend their money on travel or a few luxury items a year and not dating or things that would impress women. Friends with Benefits is now very prevalent in the 20 something age group.
I don’t know how big this trend will go and if we’re looking at a huge shift in the place men have in this world but I know enough people who are choosing to opt out of the game either because of how they were raised or because of a conscious choice. How mainstream will the movement get? That’s what I’d like to know.
A great summary on the movement in this post that I think sums it up pretty well. Is this movement right? I really can’t say but it appeals to enough people that it deserves more attention in the media.