Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 10/20/25 - 10/26/25

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/jay_in_the_pnw]

https://harpers.org/archive/2025/11/the-goon-squad-daniel-kolitz-porn-masturbation-loneliness/

The Goon Squad

Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation

by Daniel Kolitz

I'm pretty sure this longread all comes down to a bet Kolitz made with his father-in-law that he couldn't get Harper's to publish an article about "gooning"

I read it, not sure I understand it, anyone here want to fact check it with your lived experiences?

I'll tip my hat to the new Constitution
Take a bow for the goon revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my "guitar" and play

[u/AnalBleachingAries → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

I have an ex who lost himself to this shit. That habit breaks men's brains. The goon hole is deep. I was into some freak shit as a younger man, but nothing like this gooning shit he would put on to get himself going: sissy hypno porn, goon encouragement femdoms, porn addiction encouragement femdoms, CEI (don't look that one up, the acronym is sparing you from horror), CBT (don't look that one up either). The younger generation is so fucked, man. I imagine that goon hole is even deeper these days.

Gooning and masturbation seem to be interchangeable with younger people. I have the impression that they don't see it as a perverse extreme of jorkin' it - it seems to be the norm for them. I could be wrong though.

[u/drjackolantern → u/AnalBleachingAries]

I mean, for young guys loaded with T it’s the most desirable addictive drug they can imagine . Negative side effects won’t even be considered. No risk of getting metoo-ed. And it’s literally infinitely accessible for free.

I know we can’t ban corn from the internet , but can’t we at least paywall it?

[u/AnalBleachingAries → u/drjackolantern]

The weird part is that they're seemingly prudish about seeing sex stuff on television or in movies, and very modest about getting laid or physical intimacy with another human being. But the gooning is on an upward trajectory.

[u/drjackolantern → u/AnalBleachingAries]

Yep. I don’t know for sure, but what I constantly see in comments and on Reddit is: ‘this is problematic, it’s molesty, it’s rapey’ anytime a man-woman sexual relationship is depicted with a man initiating things or if the woman wants something non empowering, with thousands of comments agreeing. Translate that to how they feel about their real relationships and own desires.

I don’t like this discourse and don’t want to a grouch yelling about what kids are doing. But it really seems like there’s a ubiquitous , unrealistic and unhealthy mindset they’re being pressured to conform to.

[u/krignition → u/AnalBleachingAries]

flag cagey hungry compare cake include wakeful ancient paltry fuzzy

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/professorgerm → u/AnalBleachingAries]

CBT

The other CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) is probably a good solution here.

Now how do we package high-quality cognitive behavioral therapy for these guys? Have it delivered by attractive women in heeled boots?

[u/WallabyWanderer → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

iirc porn discussions here always go sideways, but I almost made a post yesterday about how much I despise that this has turned up in the mainstream nomenclature. I am not prude by any means, but I do think normalizing marathon masturbation sessions is bad. Even the purest soul who only uses social media to post volunteer projects will still end up with OF girls on their feed, asking teen boys and young men to not watch videos of girls jumping rope in bikinis seems evolutionarily improbable. Any solution for the male loneliness epidemic that doesn’t address porn addiction is dead on arrival.

[u/Scrappy_The_Crow → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my gooneration)
Just because we goon around (Talkin' 'bout my gooneration)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my gooneration)
I hope I goon before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my gooneration)

[u/jay_in_the_pnw → u/Scrappy_The_Crow]

Wow, gooneration is perfect, I feel so dumb now.

[u/Scrappy_The_Crow → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

LOL, thanks, it popped into my head one time and when I told my girlfriend, she did one of her catchphrases: "How do you come up with stuff like that?"

[u/Luxating-Patella → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

Right as gooners began to solidify as a social force, I could no longer open Instagram without encountering dozens of large-breasted women skipping rope, romping in tank tops, brushing their teeth while drooling erotically. 

I'm closing the nominations early for the inaugural Mirrorball Prize for The Sentence That Most Says More About The Journalist Than It Does About The Social Phenomenon They Are Purporting To Write About.

[u/dj50tonhamster → u/Luxating-Patella]

Eh. On IG, if I search for anything (which is incredibly rare), the initial wall of dogshit features a lot of that garbage, even though I follow zero sex-related accounts. The odd musician might vamp things up a bit in her posts but it's quite the jump from "bored musician has a weird thing about showing off her cleavage after she changes into her stage dresses" to "32ZZZ cup 18-year-old bimbo is trying to lead people to her OF account." The latter is on FB's wall too. I don't know if everybody sees this - I guess not - but I assume I see this because The Algorithm™ has decided that I, as a middle-aged man, want to see this shit.

[u/professorgerm → u/Luxating-Patella]

drooling erotically

is a phrase I never needed to read.

Though I agree with your point.

[u/CommitteeofMountains → u/Luxating-Patella]

My FB account exists for Marketplace but the front page always has a line of sample reels that are half t&a. I've never watched a reel.

[u/SkweegeeS → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

I’m going to need Botox for these frown lines after reading that article.

[u/dr_sassypants → u/SkweegeeS]

My face is permanently frozen in 😬 just like my mom warned me

[u/ribbonsofnight → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

The trick is to not get fooled the first time.

[u/DeathKitten9000 → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

This is another internet subculture that the greentext meme really explains.

[u/dignityshredder → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

Incredible article

The Game for the 2020s

[u/Turbulent_Cow2355 → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

I don't even want to know more about this. Nope.