TV Bad for Teen Guys Self-Esteem?

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It appears that there is a correlation between watching tv and being unhappy, and not just among teens - what's less clear is cause-and-effect.

I've noticed the same thing. But low self-esteem does not necessarily equal depression.



Men are significantly more likely to commit suicide than women. Probably to do with that it's more acceptable for a woman to vent, which provides a safety valve of sorts.

Watching Heroes has made me depressed because I don't have any super powers

I was alluding to said fact (I believe the stat is something like 7:1 in many countries, but as I said that doesn't tell the whole story because men are vastly more likely to actually succeed in offing themselves, while as I recall women may actually be more likely to attempt; nonetheless the fact that the suicide gap holds across many countries makes me a bit suspicious).

Television today largely caters to women!

This is most obvious in the typical morning shows, where they lean the topics towards female interests, like relationship with a man, a celebrity gossip story, or some type of beauty aid, or even a patronizing segment on car service (or other technology) where they act like a woman doesn't know a thing about the topic (Learn how to get down and dirty with your car and check your tire pressure). I have noticed most of these shows feed the female stereotype rather hard.

The worst of it though is how TV typically portrays guys. Typically, in most televsion shows, and even the commercials, the male is typically shown as the bungling idiot, while the female is shown as the smart, savvy one. This is most obvious in a simple 30 second commercial where a guy is having a problem, and a female walks in and says "use (name your product)" guy gives puzzled look and tries product, and succeeds at solving problem. This typical theme however is frequently played out into a 30 minute or 1 hour long TV show. If you can endure it, watch through a typical prime-time TV show, and you will noticed that the females usually have a significantly higher success rate as a protagonist than their male counterparts, which are usually seen bungling something up, hindering their female counterpart from achieving whatever goal they are trying to accomplish.

It used to be shown on television that men were strong, capable providers that were able to solve issues and be self-reliant. Today, guys are shown to be fashion accessories to girls. Just look at the difference in fashion today, and it's quite obvious where the self esteem comes from too... Women are shown scantily clad in bright, attractive clothes, while guys are encouraged to wear loose, long baggy clothes that cover everything up.

Don't watch TV. I don't.

Yes, but it's hard to know what percentage of said attempts are serious - someone who jumps off a tall building or shoots himself in the head are obviously serious, while someone that takes one aspirin obviously isn't (I've heard of such cases, it's no joke), but there are many ambiguous cases. However, it seems making suicide slightly harder has a huge impact on the number of suicide deaths, so it seems likely that many suicides are spur-of-the-moment things, but serious (the intent of death is real, they're not cries for help). If suicide deaths are so dependent on the availability of means, then if a gender gap holds in many different countries (with differing availability of means), it sounds like men are far more likely to make serious suicide attempts, while women are more likely to make half-hearted ones or 'cries for help.'




TV does seem very anti-male, which reflects that misandry is widely socially acceptable. However, it does also push serious body image problems (which affect females far more than males); it doesn't promote healthy attitudes in either gender. However, self esteem issues =/= depression.

I don't watch much TV. But there is a problem with studies like this as it could be people with a propensity for depression can watch a lot of TV. Of course if they have depression that is going to make a difference how they interpret what they watch.

Well, Deep Space 9 and Voyager certainly could have been the reason why -- both of them sucked ass compared to the original series or TNG Don't even get me started on "Enterprise," sheesh.

LoL, i cant be botherd to much with TV, all the crap they fill people with things they make us believe we need in order to have a better life, tsk.

I agree, The original series and The next generation were the best in the series. Nothing could beat the duo Captain Kirk and Spock or Captain Picard and Data.

True enough, they were classic duos (or trios, if you count McCoy/Spock/Kirk and Riker/Data/Picard). That being said, Kirk is my favorite -- Picard got a bit too PC and touchy-feely for me. There are episodes were Kirk is literally ready to nuke planets clean if he doesn't get his way, while Picard was always so "Oh, the Prime Directive this, cultural relativism that, blah blah blah".

That show was very much a product of 80s and 90s political correctness, while something about the original series (probably the fact that they had veteran sci-fi writers on their staff and didn't have to go as many years with creative plotlines) were a lot more timeless.

According to the movie "Trekkies" (lots of Aspies in there, btw), I'm a "Trekker" -- original series preference. I prefer to think of myself as "Orthodox Star Trek." In our house, Star Trek was the religion of choice.

If Kirk had faced down the Borg, he would have talked them into destroying themselves.

Well, now that that's out of the way, we can all agree that there is a thinly veiled misandry pervading our cultures. Fabulous. We could join the masculist moving, but all that whining just isn't manly enough for me.

It seems we have reached an impasse... I would say that TNG was the more well-written series (at least from the 3rd season on)... You just can't compare anything from the original series to some of the TNG episodes like The Inner Light from a pure story perspective... Then again, I literally grew up on TNG... that's what I watched as a child, instead of the stuff that kids in the early 90s tended to watch (I think it was power rangers, not quite sure)... Data ended up being my role model, and one of the few characters on any television program of the time that I could identify to as a child...

On the other hand, I will agree with you on the franchise going downhill after TNG ended (and the first two seasons of TNG)...


If Kirk had met Q, humanity would have been destroyed in two seconds...


Yea sorry for derailing the thread... back on topic...


I would say misandry is only self-imposed on men, instead of by vengeful feminists... it's the whole requirement to be macho that is preventing men from being able to vent their own feelings...

Yeah this TV stuff upsets me and lowers my self esteem.

Deep Space Nine is by far, the best of Star Trek.

Yah....I don't really watch much TV nowadays.

I have better things to do...like talking online with you guys, getting my business off the ground, working at my job, spending time with my girlfriend, watching movies, listening to music, and watching some classic sitcoms...and that last one is only occasionally.