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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   6434 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026

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I’ve noticed a vast difference in interest in classic rock and 80’s music- women who’re into that stuff are mostly that age.

Men seem to like not-new movies at much higher rates. Men also seem pretty happy reading mostly not-new releases. Note that I'm not talking classic novels here- men just generally seem to read novels that sold well when released in the late twentieth century or early 2000’s.

I've noticed, meanwhile, that girls are more interested period novels and traditional styles of medicine and mythology (ref: astrology.) To be frank, I don't think we're going to get anywhere talking about which gender likes old stuff more. I can display numerical inequalities at every level of the publishing industry in favor of women, and have-- I think-- compelling a priori reasons to believe that inequality should cause a disparity in reading levels. I don't think the "likes old stuff" position has any argument that isn't fully generalizeable to, "then why don't publishers just release more new things that harken back to the old stuff?" Which in turn points back to the gender inequality issue.

Do you really not see the difference between mid-late 20th century pop culture on the one hand and the SCA and classical literature on the other?

I would see the difference-- if it was actually something visible in my own life that I could independently verify. Without denying your own experience, it seems to me that there's always some other anecdote either of us can pull out to make this argument moot.

I mean, turn on the classic rock station in the morning- it’s definitely going to be a show aimed at men. Go to original Star Wars trilogy showings and compare the audience to a recent release. Tom Clancy and Larry Correia are still selling very well.

And thats leaving out the core male popular entertainment interest, which is sports.

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