Michelle Cottle
Is the Cure to Male Loneliness Out on the Pickleball Court?
Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board and a host of “Matter of Opinion.”
The more I learn about the epidemic of male loneliness, the more I’m convinced that America needs to send its men out to play: fishing, golfing, hiking, biking, bow hunting — or, for the less sporty types, Ping-Pong, poker, chess, competitive grilling. You get the idea. The particulars aren’t so important. What matters is that guys start clocking quality time together, preferably without wives or girlfriends along.
No gender has a lock on loneliness, but men in particular seem to be struggling with the basics of making friends today. Surveys indicate that men have seen a much sharper decline than women in their close friendships over the past 30 years; a higher percentage of men than women report having no close friends at all (15 percent versus 10 percent); men receive less emotional support from friends than do women; and they are less likely than women to admit being lonely, making it tough to gauge, much less address, their suffering.
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Michelle Cottle is a member of the Times editorial board, focusing on U.S. politics. She has covered Washington and politics since the Clinton administration. @mcottle