Link Between Social Media and Depression Stronger In Teen Girls Than Boys, Study Says (cnn.com)

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Link Between Social Media and Depression Stronger In Teen Girls Than Boys, Study Says (cnn.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Friday January 4, 2019 @11:30AM from the cause-and-effect dept.

According to a new study published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, the link between social media use and depressive symptoms in 14-year-olds may be much stronger for girls than boys. CNN reports: Among teens who use social media the most -- more than five hours a day -- the study showed a 50% increase in depressive symptoms among girls versus 35% among boys, when their symptoms were compared with those who use social media for only one to three hours daily. Yet the study, conducted in the UK, showed only an association between social media use and symptoms of depression, which can include feelings of unhappiness, restlessness or loneliness. The findings cannot prove that frequent social media use caused depressive symptoms, or vice versa. The study also described other factors, such as lack of sleep and cyberbullying, that could help explain this association.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on 10,904 14-year-olds who were born between 2000 and 2002 in the United Kingdom. The data, which came from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, included information from questionnaires on the teens' depressive symptoms and social media use. Depressive symptoms were recorded as scores, and the researchers looked at which teens had high or low scores. They found that on average, girls had higher depressive symptom scores compared with boys. The researchers also found that girls reported more social media use than boys; 43.1% of girls said they used social media for three or more hours per day, versus 21.9% of boys. The data showed that for teens using social media for three to five hours, 26% of girls and 21% of boys had depressive symptom scores higher than those who used social media for only about one to three hours a day. As for the gender gap, Yvonne Kelly, first author of the study and professor of epidemiology and public health, believes it has to do with "the types of things that girls and boys do online."

"In the UK, girls tend to more likely use things like Snapchat or Instagram, which is more based around physical appearance, taking photographs and commenting on those photographs," she said. "I think it has to do with the nature of use."

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Emotional by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 11:33 · Score: 1

Females are more emotional then males. We've known this for thousands of years. Cavemen understood this. Was a clinical study really necessary?
1. Re: Emotional by lucasnate1 · 2019-01-04 11:39 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  If females are supposedly more emotional than man, why do men commit much more suicides?
  
  --
  Avantgarde Hebrew science fiction
2. Re: Emotional by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 11:47 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  If females are supposedly more emotional than man, why do men commit much more suicides?
  Men are more successful at suicide. One more thing that men are better at! Go men!
  "Nothing stands in your way, when you're a boy."
  -- David Bo(y)wie
3. Re: Emotional by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 12:41 · Score: 1
  
  Seems to me like you're the one getting all upset. You can't make a single post without a juvenile insult. The projection is obvious.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_differences_in_suicide
  "Suicide attempts are between two and four times more frequent among females."
4. Re: Emotional by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 13:00 · Score: 1
  
  Show a man he is wrong.
  Show a woman she is wrong.
  From their reactions you will immediately realize that women are many levels more emotional than men.
5. Re: Emotional by Dorianny · 2019-01-04 14:19 · Score: 1
  
  If you need a wall to protect you from "invaders" with no weapons or shoes you are most definitely a Snowflake
6. Re:Emotional by DNS-and-BIND · 2019-01-04 18:33 · Score: 1
  
  Women are on average more neurotic than men. James Damore got fired for saying this.
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
7. Re:Emotional by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-04 20:51 · Score: 1
  
  Cavemen understood this.
  You know this how? Have you spoken to some cavemen or analysed their writings?
  Yeah didn't think so. Sounds more like it's a "fact" you made up because you think it sounds true.
  Was a clinical study really necessary?
  It sure beats making wild-as guesses about cave-men.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
8. Re:Emotional by quenda · 2019-01-04 21:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Women are on average more neurotic than men. James Damore got fired for saying this.
  Women are on average higher in neuroticism, one of the Big-5 personality traits.
  This is unfortunately named, as it is not the same as being neurotic.
9. Re: Emotional by c6gunner · 2019-01-04 21:37 · Score: 1
  
  How much you wanna bet that people who score high on neuroticism are far more likely to be neurotic?
10. Re:Emotional by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-04 21:39 · Score: 1, Troll
  
  Women are on average more neurotic than men. James Damore got fired for saying this.
  That's a massive misrepresentation of what he wrote: he said so, so much more than that.
  Here's the funny thing though you can't actually defend what he did write, you're defending a fantasy version of what he wrote. So, why are you defending it?
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
11. Re:Emotional by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-04 22:58 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Also, and this is the reason why he got fired, that difference is minor and the author of the study he cited for it has said publicly that the conclusion it affects women's performance in or preference for engineering jobs is unwarranted.
  It's a very old argument. It's odd that Damore didn't discover it and read the extensive debunkings that have been written over the centuries, and particularly in the modern era. It's almost as if he had a conclusion and googled evidence to support it.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
12. Re:Emotional by cascadingstylesheet · 2019-01-05 03:14 · Score: 1
  
  Also, and this is the reason why he got fired, that difference is minor and the author of the study he cited for it has said publicly that the conclusion it affects women's performance in or preference for engineering jobs is unwarranted.
  Well, that's definitive. I mean, it's not like you could get fired for saying that it does affect anything ...
13. Re:Emotional by bill_mcgonigle · 2019-01-05 05:13 · Score: 1
  
  Also, and this is the reason why he got fired, that difference is minor and the author of the study he cited for it has said publicly that the conclusion it affects women's performance in or preference for engineering jobs is unwarranted.
  The average differences are quite small. The differences on the extremes are significantly pronounced - that's how this kind of math works out.
  You should go read the studies about the impact of gender-egalitarian policies on the career choices of men and women in Scandinavia. The results are not what the authors 'wanted' to find.
  
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  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
14. Re:Emotional by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-05 05:31 · Score: 1
  
  I've read those studies, have you? They didn't "want" to find anything. The follow up studies have mostly found the reasons for the results seen, and they appear to be cultural.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
15. Re:Emotional by quenda · 2019-01-05 15:39 · Score: 1
  
  No, except that culture reflects nature.
  Sexual differences in personality and preference in occupational activities appear to be hard wired, and cross-cultural. Cross-species even - we see similar sexual dimorphism in other primates.
  It can be observed from an early age in the toys and activities that children use. As they get older and more socially conditioned, the sexual differences become smaller, not greater. Women like people, men like things. (talking tendency in averages of course, if that does not do without saying)
16. Re:Emotional by quenda · 2019-01-06 02:55 · Score: 1
  
  If it is cross cultural how do you explain places like Iran where more than half the STEM graduates are female? How about China
  
  Less gender equality and personal freedom in those countries. More equality and freedom means men and women are more able to make choices and express their differences.
  https://www.theatlantic.com/sc...
  But: Gender disparities in science and engineering in Chinese universities:
  https://www.sciencedirect.com/...
17. Re:Emotional by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-06 03:55 · Score: 1
  
  You are arguing that gender inequality somehow forces more women into studying STEM, leading to better paid jobs and more opportunities? Are you suggesting that men are the ones being oppressed in Iran?
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
18. Re: Emotional by HornWumpus · 2019-01-06 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  Better just to go fishing. Monthly fishing trip!
  Proximity axiom: Pussy makes you crazy. Think how crazy the relatively little bit you get makes you, woman are attached!
  Then understand: Good crazy and bad crazy.
  
  --
  John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
19. Re:Emotional by quenda · 2019-01-06 17:13 · Score: 1
  
  I'm looking at the data, instead of twisting it to fit my prejudices.
  I might hypothesise that in Iran or China, parents contribute more to the choice of field of study, compared to Scandinavia.
  Greater freedom of choice by young people leads to greater expression of their differing preferences.
20. Re:Emotional by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-06 21:02 · Score: 1
  
  So you agree with me? Your theory is that it's a social issue, particularly parental influence.
  That being the case, why do you assume that in Scandinavian countries there is less influence, not more? That is in direct opposition to what studies looking at this question found.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
21. Re:Emotional by quenda · 2019-01-06 23:06 · Score: 1
  
  I think I have made myself clear. But Amimojo, I've read your posts and no idea what you really think.
  Do you believe sexual dimorphism in humans stops at the neck?
  What intrinsic differences are there between men and women?
  Do you believe that male domination of records in sport is due to biological causes, or it it oppression of female athletes?
  What about chess?
22. Re: Emotional by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 00:25 · Score: 1
  
  If females are supposedly more emotional than man, why do men commit much more suicides?
  Because the females drive them crazy.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
23. Re:Emotional by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 01:00 · Score: 1
  
  "Which brings us back to engineering and Damore. In that case there actually is some evidence - women used to be more involved the field of CS, but there has been a decline since the mid 90s. Any explanation of the disparity in participation has to explain that to be credible."
  This is just my personal observation so clearly not scientific...
  I did my first coding back in the early 70s, and it seemed at the time to be a fairly even mix of men and women. As AmiMoJo stated, there was clearly a drop off of females in CS starting in the 90s. Speaking to some of the women I knew early on, I was told things like..."I got into engineering because of the money", and "I don't touch computers when I leave the office"...that was back in the day, and lead me to think their hearts weren't really in it. Not always the case, but certainly a not insignificant percentage of them. Also, as the internet came into common use, much more of the development work became sweatshop efforts, with long hours leaving little family time. And in my experience as a hiring manager who needs people 24/7/365, females appear to be less inclined to put in odd hours and holiday work. Once CS became mostly a boys club, women also seem to become less interested in being one of a few or maybe the only female in a dev lab.
  Just my $.02, I wish I could find more women to hire...I interview every one of them that puts forward a reasonable resume. I'm hopeful that we're not beyond changing the situation, but I wonder if it's too late now.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
They're not by rsilvergun · 2019-01-04 11:49 · Score: 5, Informative

females show more emotion then men, they don't necessarily _have_ more emotion. This means men have to keep it bottled up ("Stiff Upper lip and all that rot!") until they snap.

You get what you measure, and you get what you _can_ measure. It's hard to measure emotional responses from a person actively trying to hide them. Conversely it's easier to measure those responses from people encouraged to show their emotions.

--
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1. Re:They're not by alvinrod · 2019-01-04 14:13 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It's not a matter of showing more emotion, it's that if you measure the negative emotion personality trait (referred to as neuroticism in the psychology literature) then females score higher than men. The limbic cortex in the female brain is larger and better connected to the other regions of the brain, which may explain those observations. The presence of testosterone has also been identified in playing a role in how the human brain regulates emotions. Generally this means that women are better (faster) at processing emotions and have an easier time identifying emotions in others.
  
  The parent is also incorrect. Women attempt suicide more often than men, and depending on the report you'll see figures indicating somewhere between twice and three times as much. However, men have a much higher suicide rate, in part because of the methods they use (gun, hanging) are more effective.
2. Re:They're not by Kjella · 2019-01-05 04:56 · Score: 1
  
  All suicide attempts are cries out for help.
  Not really, at least not from the person's own perspective. Sometimes they don't inherently want to die, but feel their situation is so terrible they can't get the necessary attention any other way. This is presumably often the case with people with a history of lesser self-harm, they take it one step too far and actually die. It's like an adrenaline junkie trying increasingly extreme stunts, technically not seeking death but taking it to the edge. Other times there's nothing to be done, like in Terry Pratchett: Choosing to die they talk to Andrew Colgan who did try to take his own life before getting euthanasia, because he has a crippling disease that's getting worse. Some people are like that mentally too, they did get all meaningful help but are just broken inside and want it to end.
  Remember suicides are a mixed bunch. You have all the people who commit a rash suicide over heartbreak or something like that, that really just need to take their life in a different direction. You have the people who feel like everything is pitch black, even if they have fame, money, love and no objective reason. You have the people who've suffered through terrible traumas like physical and sexual abuse, war and terror. I know some people think everything can be fixed but talking to a psychologist isn't exactly a guaranteed cure you won't wake every night screaming from your nightmares. In fact, some seem to fear failing more than succeeding and make like really, really sure. Of course you don't hear much about those because they're all dead, the stories all come from those who "failed".
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
3. Re:They're not by Nivag064 · 2019-01-05 10:56 · Score: 1
  
  So any time someone states a genuine difference between males & women, they are being sexist???
  You are being way too simplistic, the comment you object to has little to do with competence, as other people have covered in more detail.
4. Re:They're not by ArylAkamov · 2019-01-05 11:34 · Score: 1
  
  Women attempt suicide more often than men.... However, men have a much higher suicide rate, in part because ... are more effective.
  This is so subtly sexist... Implies that women are incompetent even at taking their own lives.
  It's not implying, that's just a fact.
5. Re:They're not by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 00:34 · Score: 1
  
  All suicide attempts are cries out for help.
  Nonsense. People with chronic unmanageable pain often chose that path. I had this discussion long ago with my spouse, saying that if I were in a position where my quality of life had deteriorated to the point that I would never be able to get out of bed, that I would prefer to end it. This is a conscious decision made before the fact in my case.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
And in other news by gweihir · 2019-01-04 11:49 · Score: 1

Using social media for several hours a day is pathological behavior already by itself.
I mean 1...3 hours/day as "normal" and >5h/day as the group that has a problem is pretty insane.

--
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
1. Re:And in other news by dunkelfalke · 2019-01-04 12:38 · Score: 1
  
  Meh, I am perfectly well able to have a depression without using any social media.
  
  --
  "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
2. Re:And in other news by gweihir · 2019-01-04 22:03 · Score: 1
  
  Like your sig. Seems to sum up most of the followers pretty well.
  
  --
  Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
3. Re:And in other news by cascadingstylesheet · 2019-01-05 03:17 · Score: 1
  
  Meh, I am perfectly well able to have a depression without using any social media.
  I know, right?
  Pfft, amateurs.
4. Re:And in other news by dunkelfalke · 2019-01-06 19:37 · Score: 1
  
  Yep. Found that little gem in a discussion on "the Guardian" and since Slashdot is full of conservative kiddies these days I instantly knew I would piss them off with this sig. Never had so many enemies here before that, hehe.
  
  --
  "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Re:Only if they have itty bitty titties by techno-vampire · 2019-01-04 12:00 · Score: 1, Interesting

This is why girls, especially in that age group, carry their school books across their chests. Either they think their breasts aren't big enough and want to hide them, or they think they're too big and all the boys will be staring at them. (This isn't guesswork; I once asked a woman about it and that's what she told me.)

--
Good, inexpensive web hosting
OMG i forgot to click like for like 5 min by WillAffleckUW · 2019-01-04 12:11 · Score: 3, Informative

My life is over!!!!!
Best advice ever: don't ever buy kids anything other than a flip phone and set it so it can't send texts

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
1. Re:OMG i forgot to click like for like 5 min by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 13:13 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah right, just like teaching abstinence reduces pregnancy rates (hint: it increases pregnancy rates). You can try all you want but the kid will find a way to get or use a normal phone. All you're doing is making them have to hide the behavior which means they're even more likely to have issues.
  You can't change the world and the world is all about handheld computing devices right now. Better to teach responsible use because they're going to have to use tech at some point in life.
2. Re:OMG i forgot to click like for like 5 min by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-04 22:48 · Score: 1
  
  Not being able to properly participate in their friend's social circle due to lack of a phone/chat apps will hurt them.
  Why not try talking to them about it, and about body image?
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
How else does this relate by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 12:16 · Score: 1

Does this have any correlation to the metoo movement? Real question, not a snarky comment.
SMAD by epine · 2019-01-04 12:43 · Score: 1

Why doesn't this rampant condition have a formal name yet?
Social Media Affective Disorder is practically screaming from the womb.
1. Re:SMAD by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 04:56 · Score: 1
  
  Considering your post is now three days old w/o any replies, I think the screaming is going unheard.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
So sick of fucking gender gap by 2ms · 2019-01-04 12:56 · Score: 2, Insightful

Everything in the fucking world is about this stupid fucking gender gap shit. Is there not a single site I can go to which isn't infected with this crap? If there's a "gender gap" and females are more negatively affected then it's a disaster and something needs to be done. If there's a "gender gap" and males are doing worse then there's no problem at all and maybe even a sign of progress. What a bunch of toxic shit. Let's just do what we can to help HUMANS. Stop dividing everyone, pitting everyone against each other, and generally finding any conceivable way we can to create civil war. Jesus christ people. I've had it.
1. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by DNS-and-BIND · 2019-01-04 13:37 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  In the charmingly titled "When You Can't Throw All Men Into The Ocean And Start Over, What CAN You Do? Ijeoma Oluo - the mother of two boys, God help them - writes,
  "This society is doing everything it can to create rapists, to enable rapists, and to protect rapists. This society is broken, abusive, patriarchal (and white supremacist, ableist, hetero-cisnormative) trash. This entire patriarchal society is responsible for every single sexual assault that occurs."
  https://medium.com/@anthoknees/women-have-a-right-to-hate-men-df41b4de3842
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
2. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 13:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I think what this study illustrates is that there are intrinsic gender differences that ought to be better understood and explored, rather than suppressed, ignored, or dismissed as products of socialization.
3. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by Nivag064 · 2019-01-04 20:28 · Score: 1
  
  Everything in the fucking world is about this stupid fucking gender gap shit. Is there not a single site I can go to which isn't infected with this crap? If there's a "gender gap" and females are more negatively affected then it's a disaster and something needs to be done. If there's a "gender gap" and males are doing worse then there's no problem at all and maybe even a sign of progress. What a bunch of toxic shit. Let's just do what we can to help HUMANS. Stop dividing everyone, pitting everyone against each other, and generally finding any conceivable way we can to create civil war. Jesus christ people. I've had it.
  Well there are differences between men & women in many areas that are statistically significant. These are due to biological, cultural, and other causes. Unfortunately, a lot of political agendas confuse the issue (just look at the issue of marital violence -- it is a very real problem, leading to many people being seriously hurt).
  This causes at least 3 types of problems:
  (1) People who insist that there are no differences, either due to ignorance or ideology (or both). This leads to stupid things like insisting that exactly half of the students in computer science classes should be female (by the way, my wife has an MSc in Computer Science), or that 50% of nurses should be male ( I suspect most people, of any gender, would prefer most nurses to be female!).
  (2) People who insist that a particular gender can't or shouldn't do something, This is almost invariable due to cultural bias. However, sometimes there is a valid scientific basis: women are more susceptible to alcohol per Kg, and the dangers to an unborn child are greatest shortly after conception when the woman may not realize that she maybe pregnant -- so women need to take more care for health reasons (don't know of any gender difference relating to alcohol induced anti social behaviour -- though I'm not saying that there isn't a difference).
  (3) People who insist that a particular gender is superior to the other. Note that even if one gender is statistically superior to the other in one quality, it does not necessarily follow that all individuals of one gender are better than the other (I even been wiped of the chess board by an old woman who was probably at least 30 years older than myself, and I can easily thrash most social Chess players).
4. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-04 21:16 · Score: 1
  
  (1) People who insist that there are no differences
  That's pretty rare. I mean I'm sure you can find them but you can find flat-earther's too so there's not much to be found cherrypicking nutters.
  This leads to stupid things like insisting that exactly half of the students in computer science classes should be female
  Like when? What we do know is there was a dramatic drp down from about 37% in the early 1980s. Biology doesn't change significantly over the course of 1 generation.
  or that 50% of nurses should be male
  There are no significant voices saying that.
  ( I suspect most people, of any gender, would prefer most nurses to be female!)
  Why on earth would people care? Especially as the majority of people are tending towards overweight or obese and one job of nurses is to move people who can't move themselves easily. At some point that requires upper body strength.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
5. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-04 21:36 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  This post is just incoherent.
  Let's just do what we can to help HUMANS.
  There are two choices here:
  1. There's no difference at all between men and women. Therefore any gaps are due to bias and those need fixing.
  2. There are differences in wich case it's really stupid to pretend they don't exist.
  . I've had it.
  Bye bye then. Go find another forum which doesn't hurt your feelings with scientific studies.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
6. Re: So sick of fucking gender gap by c6gunner · 2019-01-04 22:05 · Score: 1
  
  Like when? What we do know is there was a dramatic drp down from about 37% in the early 1980s. Biology doesn't change significantly over the course of 1 generation.
  Biology doesn't have to; societal factors are sufficient. People - men and women - don't just pick careers based on what they're good at or interested in; they also consider things like opportunity, cost, social standing, stabiliy, etc. Early on women were overrepresented in computing because they had few other good opportunities. It didn't mean that women were better at it than men. The percentage had already dropped significantly by the 80s, and it continued to drop as our societies became more equal in opportunity.
  
  or that 50% of nurses should be male
  There are no significant voices saying that.
  I noticed that you didn't say there are no significant voices saying that women should be 50% of computer scientists though.
7. Re: So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-04 22:21 · Score: 1
  
  I noticed that you didn't say there are no significant voices saying that women should be 50% of computer scientists though.
  Yes I did, specifically I said "like when" in response to the original claim. You even fucking quoted it.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
8. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-04 22:52 · Score: 1
  
  This is just dumb, from a pure engineering standpoint. If you noticed that one tyre on a car was getting excessive wear, it would be idiotic to demand that in the name of equality a solution for all four tyres is found. An engineer will try to identify what differentiates that tyre and address the issue.
  More over, often by identifying these differences you get some insight that helps the less affected group too. Maybe you find that there is an issue with the suspension, and gain greater understanding of what causes tyre wear, and how to extend the life of our all four.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
9. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by 2ms · 2019-01-05 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  What is an "INCEL"?
10. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by 2ms · 2019-01-05 00:39 · Score: 1
  
  What the hell are you talking about? Men and women are obviously very different from one another. Thank god. Now let's treat everyone the same. Stop dividing everyone. Stop inventing conflict and pitting people against each other. Let's work together.
11. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by swillden · 2019-01-05 00:44 · Score: 1
  
  (1) People who insist that there are no differences
  That's pretty rare. I mean I'm sure you can find them but you can find flat-earther's too so there's not much to be found cherrypicking nutters.
  It's really not rare at all among people on the left, if you're talking about differences above the neck. Many insist that all cognitive and emotional differences among men and women are due to socialization, and that if boys and girls were treated identically we would see no differences whatsoever in non-physical abilities and inclinations.
  Even people who will readily concede that we see large differences in other species deny that there can be any in our own, and insist that any that we see are due to social pressures/structures.
  This is mostly ideological, and it has an obvious historical origin. Given that past generations have used claims of gender and race-based biological differences to justify all sorts of horrendous oppression, there's a tendency to be wary of any arguments for such differences, on the theory that it's a small step from accepting differences to using them to discriminate in ways that negatively impact individuals and groups.
  
  This leads to stupid things like insisting that exactly half of the students in computer science classes should be female
  Like when? What we do know is there was a dramatic drp down from about 37% in the early 1980s. Biology doesn't change significantly over the course of 1 generation.
  Clearly not. That change must be due to changes either in what people do in those courses or in how they're treated/perceived by society. Note that the names changed during that period, from "informatics" and "data processing" to "computer science", "software engineering" and "computer engineering".
  
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12. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-05 01:05 · Score: 1
  
  It's really not rare at all among people on the left,
  Yes it is. I've nt actually ever met a person who has said this. Never. Not once.
  the fact you've already dragged politice into this as "the left", while applying sweeping generalisations says to me that you're far more interested in banging a partisan drum than actually having anything approaching a sensible discussion.
  Many insist that all cognitive and emotional differences among men and women are due to socialization, and that if boys and girls were treated identically we would see no differences whatsoever in non-physical abilities and inclinations.
  Nope, never actually heard anyone say that. I'm sure you can find someone on the internet who has. That's the nice thing about the internet, you can find someone to say almost anything or even find a whole community of people to say anything.
  What I have heard people say is that the differences are probably much smaller than the socialisation aspect, there's much more variance and treating differently simply because of their gender tends to enforce social based differences.
  Even people who will readily concede that we see large differences in other species deny that there can be any in our own, and insist that any that we see are due to social pressures/structures
  That qualifies as "not even wrong". Other species are to various degrees anywhere between interesting and utterly irrelevant. Female anglerfish abosrb males and carry what remains arond as balls, giving (ironically) female angler fish more testicles than anything else. Clearly that means women are unsuited to computer science.
  Then there's that dubious one about boy monkeys and toy cars or somesuch which has a bearing apparently because monkeys of that sort have no particular affinity for tools so it shows men like tools more?
  What I have seen is people insist that certain culturally enforced things are innate despite other cultures having it the other way around.
  The thing is you don't know which are cultural and which are innate. Humans are very malleable and it's very, very hard to separate out the differences. cute little just-so stories are not a substitute for actual knowledge.
  This is mostly ideological,
  Your claim is mostly ideological. Very few people actually believe that. Bonus points if you can cherry pick a few out of the 4 billion or so people on the internet.
  
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  SJW n. One who posts facts.
13. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-05 01:08 · Score: 1
  
  Men and women are obviously very different from one another. Thank god. Now let's treat everyone the same.
  If man and women are obviously very different then why on earth should we treat them the same? That makes no sense.
  As for the obviousness, well that's up for debate as well.
  Stop dividing everyone.
  You literally just said that men and women are obviously very different from one another. Perhaps you are the one who needs to stop dividing people.
  Let's work together.
  You're not interested in that. You are trying to pretend that you are innocent of all things (interesting since no one accused you of anything) while trying to take the moral high ground on an incoherent position.
  
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  SJW n. One who posts facts.
14. Re: So sick of fucking gender gap by c6gunner · 2019-01-05 02:26 · Score: 1
  
  I must have misinterpreted that. In that case you're just being willfully obtuse.
15. Re: So sick of fucking gender gap by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-05 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  Right. Me not blindly agreeing with your flagrantly exaggerated/outright false claims is me being "wiillfully obtuse". LOL.
  
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  SJW n. One who posts facts.
16. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by Nivag064 · 2019-01-05 10:30 · Score: 1
  
  (1) People who insist that there are no differences
  That's pretty rare. I mean I'm sure you can find them but you can find flat-earther's too so there's not much to be found cherrypicking nutters.
  This leads to stupid things like insisting that exactly half of the students in computer science classes should be female
  Like when? What we do know is there was a dramatic drp down from about 37% in the early 1980s. Biology doesn't change significantly over the course of 1 generation.
  or that 50% of nurses should be male
  There are no significant voices saying that.
  ( I suspect most people, of any gender, would prefer most nurses to be female!)
  Why on earth would people care? Especially as the majority of people are tending towards overweight or obese and one job of nurses is to move people who can't move themselves easily. At some point that requires upper body strength.
  One place I worked there was female colleague I chatted with occasionally. She was, as far I can remember technically competent -- and definitely feminine. I remember talking to her husband who claimed there was no difference between men & women. I've never met anyone who insists the world is flat. I made no comment on how frequent problem (1) was.
  Your comment wrt Computer Science, is not relevant to what I stated. I made no comment about percentages of females vs males in Computer Science. I also pointed out earlier, that there other forces at work aside from biology.
  Your comment wrt Nurses. The number of people who are very vocal about an issue, tends to be considerably less than the number of people who have a particular preference. Also, I made no comment to suggest that there should be no male nurses (note that the word 'most' is not a synonym for the word 'all'). So your comments here are either irrelevant and/or fallacious.
17. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by Nivag064 · 2019-01-05 10:48 · Score: 1
  
  I'm glad bigotry has a pure justification.
  Hmm... People can infer bigotry where none exists.
  In New Zealand, a few years back, a researcher was concerned about the prevalence of an antisocial disease in a particular ethnic group, and was trying to propose reasonable remedial action to help reduce the incidence of the disease. He got accused of being racist, as though merely identifying a problem area, was bigotry.
  If you fell into a pile of shit, and someone said "You're all shitty, let us help clean you up." Would you accuse them of being insulting, or would you graciously accept help???
18. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  I even been wiped of the chess board by an old woman who was probably at least 30 years older than myself
  Anecdote...
  Had to laugh at your comment there. I played my first chess tournament in DC back in '82 with around 300 other people. While I was in the registration line, talking to the man behind me, we both noticed a woman about ten yards away from us, who was talking to herself with her head down and holding a coffee cup. When she looked up, she saw us and said, "don't mind me, I'm just writing letters", and proceeded to talk with us for the next couple minutes. During that time, I noticed she was sipping from an empty coffee cup. Of those people, who do you suppose I played in my very first ever tournament game?...Joan Slilch (sp?), who was at the time one of the top USCF rated women. And yes, she crushed me.
  
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  Just another day in Paradise
19. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  Why on earth would people care? Especially as the majority of people are tending towards overweight or obese and one job of nurses is to move people who can't move themselves easily. At some point that requires upper body strength.
  Having spent a lot of time in nursing homes with my mom over the last several years, I found that they have no trouble moving patients with a lifting device http://www.hoyerlift.com/
  
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  Just another day in Paradise
20. Re:So sick of fucking gender gap by Nivag064 · 2019-01-07 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  I even been wiped of the chess board by an old woman who was probably at least 30 years older than myself
  Anecdote...
  Had to laugh at your comment there. I played my first chess tournament in DC back in '82 with around 300 other people. While I was in the registration line, talking to the man behind me, we both noticed a woman about ten yards away from us, who was talking to herself with her head down and holding a coffee cup. When she looked up, she saw us and said, "don't mind me, I'm just writing letters", and proceeded to talk with us for the next couple minutes. During that time, I noticed she was sipping from an empty coffee cup. Of those people, who do you suppose I played in my very first ever tournament game?...Joan Slilch (sp?), who was at the time one of the top USCF rated women. And yes, she crushed me.
  Well the old woman was toothless and looked a bit gaga. If you had seen her in a cafe, most people would never have thought she could play chess, let alone be able to beat most Club Players!
  I could imagine her in a film, where she was the leader of a band of guerillas pretending to be harmless illiterate old woman providing tea&cakes to the enemy general, while taking careful note of their strategic intentions ...
Yeah, basic facts by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 13:28 · Score: 1

Women are more social and higher in negative emotions. They rely much more heavily on others for their status and self worth
This has been known for a long time, contemporary society likes to play dumb about it though
Re:FTFY, quoted the wiki properly by Anonymous Coward · 2019-01-04 13:45 · Score: 1

I hope you get some help. It's not healthy to be so full of rage.
That can't be right! by grasshoppa · 2019-01-04 15:47 · Score: 1, Insightful

I've been assured that gender is merely a social construct. If so, how is there a gender gap?
Shitlord scientists using their science...literally hitlers.
LITERALLY.

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1. Re:That can't be right! by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-04 21:32 · Score: 1
  
  I've been assured that gender is merely a social construct.
  I don't hold with that idea, but many, MANY of the trappings of it are. Girls/pink boys/blue which seems deeply ingrained flipped 100 years ago. Men not having close, emptionally intimate relationships with men where they talk about feelings is a recent invention much to the detriment of men (go read some old letter collections betwen men).
  The thing about men being sex-beasts always wanting it and women being pure and innocent. That also flipped, many cultures of Antiquity thought the exact opposite was true. Seems to be an Abrahamic thing.
  Men being good with tools? Just my personal observation but given how awful the average dude is with tools, I'd lose all faith in humanity if that qualified as "good". Most people suck with tools, but men have a tendency to charge in and make a bigger mess because there are a lot of unfair expectations about how they should already know what they're doing.
  If so, how is there a gender gap?
  Let's say we take the premise that gender is a social construct for the purposes of an if. That, you know the social aspect, can go as far as banning one gender from a certain field of endeavour (as was commom even in the 1970s in the US).
  And you don't see how there could be a gap? Astonishing.
  
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  SJW n. One who posts facts.
2. Re:That can't be right! by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-04 23:00 · Score: 1
  
  I've been assured that gender is merely a social construct.
  Because every other definition is flawed.
  Feel free to try it. Define gender any other way you like and I'll point out the flaws in it.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
3. Re:That can't be right! by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-05 08:50 · Score: 1
  
  Is it me or do these threads get WAAYYY more whiny AC replies than just about any other thread?
  
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  SJW n. One who posts facts.
4. Re:That can't be right! by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-05 09:12 · Score: 1
  
  Hay man, how's it going? You disappeared for a while there, I was getting worried.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
5. Re:That can't be right! by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-05 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  It's one of the oldest rational tropes, back when it was mostly about anti-feminism and less alt-light.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
6. Re:That can't be right! by serviscope_minor · 2019-01-05 23:35 · Score: 1
  
  Hay man, how's it going? You disappeared for a while there, I was getting worried.
  I think he may have been nursing an awesome hangover.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
7. Re:That can't be right! by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-06 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  Disagreeing = Russian troll trying to stir up unrest, amirite?
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
8. Re:That can't be right! by AmiMoJo · 2019-01-06 03:42 · Score: 1
  
  I am terrible, aren't I... It's actually quote encouraging that they respond with more than just name calling and accusations like some other AC stalkers do. This one is actually engaged enough to comprehend my statements on some primitive level, and has a more or less coherent response based some some kind of (wrong) political philosophy.
  A cut above the average AC.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
9. Re:That can't be right! by bingoUV · 2019-01-06 06:42 · Score: 1
  
  Gender is a grammatical construct. Sex is a scientific (as in biological) construct.
  Grammar is fundamentally debatable and descriptions of it are mostly flawed - so if you find all definitions of gender flawed you are not saying anything new.
  
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  Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
10. Re:That can't be right! by squiggleslash · 2019-01-07 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  Gender is a grammatical construct
  
  Gender was once a grammatical construct. It became used as a descriptor for the behavioral side of sex once it became necessary to distinguish between the two. That word has been used for more than a century now with that definition.
  
  Sex is a scientific (as in biological) construct.
  
  There are more sciences than biology, so this is a silly statement to make. Sex is a biological construct. Scientists created the new definition of gender because they needed to discuss that too.
  Note though, amusingly, that sex isn't as clear cut as people who get all worked up about having more than two genders like to pretend it is. There are XX people born with XY plumbing and vice versa. And, of course, you get things like XXY and other combinations that aren't XX or XY. The body is weird. The brain is weird. I would have thought that was obvious, and most people would go for a live and let live approach if they don't understand it, but for some reason, here on Slashdot, acknowledging something that the majority of scientists agree with and that's actually beautiful in its way is thoughtcrime.
  Or maybe it's just a whole bunch of pissed off programmers annoyed we can't have an easily validateable "gender" or "sex" field in our forms and databases.
  
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11. Re: That can't be right! by bingoUV · 2019-01-07 15:31 · Score: 1
  
  No, it would have been a silly statement to make if biology were the only science. Since there are more, I made it clear that biology is the science in question. E.g. since science is always science, it is silly to say :
  Sex is a scientific (as in scientific) construct.
  Other than that, I see nothing to reply in your post as I don't think you've understood the context of the post.
  
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  Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
Thats why by AHuxley · 2019-01-04 17:25 · Score: 1

wealthy and smart people limit all access to the new fad of "social media".

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Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Five hours a day? by TJHook3r · 2019-01-04 21:53 · Score: 1

If you are spending five hours a day on social media you are either depressed or have some other psychological condition! What's wrong with hanging around the shopping centre and spitting?!
1. Re:Five hours a day? by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  What's wrong with hanging around the shopping centre and spitting?!
  spitting in a shopping centre?
  
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  Just another day in Paradise
WTF? by Qbertino · 2019-01-05 00:02 · Score: 1

If anyone uses social media for 5 hours a day or more regularly, they already are depressed to begin with I'd say. Maybe boys just hide it better? There's a very plausible explanation right there.

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We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Link between social media and depression is by mark_reh · 2019-01-05 02:47 · Score: 1

strongest in stupid people.
Link between social media and stupid people is depressing for intelligent people.
Re:Only if they have itty bitty titties by cascadingstylesheet · 2019-01-05 03:15 · Score: 1

Either they think their breasts aren't big enough and want to hide them, or they think they're too big and all the boys will be staring at them. (This isn't guesswork; I once asked a woman about it and that's what she told me.)
And ... they'd likely be right.
OMG! by Hognoxious · 2019-01-05 12:31 · Score: 1

the link between social media use and depressive symptoms in 14-year-olds may be much stronger for girls than boys.

That's like soooooo unfair!

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Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
# Dvorak - From The New World by Hognoxious · 2019-01-05 13:41 · Score: 1

In the old days we didn't have the internet. We had to make our own mental illnesses.
Of course we didn't all them that. You were just a bit tapped, or not right in the head.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Re:Only if they have itty bitty titties by dcw3 · 2019-01-07 01:06 · Score: 1

When you hold a stack of books and papers is it really an illogical way to hold them? I recall being scolded by other boys for holding things "like a girl". If what your female friend told you was true, they'd all be carrying books all the time.

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Just another day in Paradise