“Find me a sitcom where the husband isnt an overgrown adolescent on the receiving end of serial ‘life lessons’ from his spouse (or children!).”
That 70′s Show with Red Foreman and King of the Hill with Hank Hill. Both have very responsible men who are engaged in their children’s lives. But you are right that they are rare.
“Do you think today’s single young men are “child-men in the promised land,” or rational adults who are turning to video games and alternative lifestyles because those are more rewarding activities?”
Both. I got married at 24 six years ago, but saw it as primarily a spiritual commitment that I made with my wife to raise a family (we have one son so far and hope to have several more). Sex wasn’t an option before marraige for me and we went through premarital counseling through our church and had the support of our friends and families so there were rewards from our community when we got married. We also did the Family Life Today conference for premarried couples, which I have seen work great improvements in other marriages. And I still play video games, watch movies where stuff blows up, and hang out with my male friends doing guy stuff almost every week, but I do it in moderation. Work and family comes first.
That was the way I was raised, but was also a conscious choice as I had roommates and other peers who went the entertainment and no family route and I was advised by some older male coworkers not to get married.
Almost all of my male 20 and 30 something friends are like me and are happily married with some of them having up to 3 kids so far. But almost all of these males also attend church regularly and have wives that are good, mature, and responsible people.
The question comes down to what is marriage? If you believe that it is a spiritual commitment before God to raise a family together then it still makes sense to get married. Even though society may not honor my marriage, my extended family and church community does.
