One in five men sleeps with their phone next to their pillow and checks it within the first ten minutes of being awake. His fascination with this unexpected bed companion is so absolute that 75% admit that they could not spend a whole day without him.
Men spend 17 of 24 hours a day checking their phone, and a third of them have no problem checking it during an important conversation or date. In a Reviews.org survey, they admitted that they did it 144 times a day, and that they were overcome with panic and anxiety when the battery dropped below 20%.
In another survey conducted by Bank my cell, 80% said they took their phone to the toilet, a practice that 69% of women also acknowledged. One more fact: one in five men the first thing they do after sex is look at their phone. We don't know if they are the same ones who sleep with it under their pillow, or if they are others.
Nothing is innocent in choosing a phone. All social codes coexist in the same device: the color, the model, the camera, the size matter, whether it is iOS or Android, foldable or not, big or small, new or vintage. When you take out your phone you are revealing an important part of your identity.
Its high symbolic power was studied for the first time in 2022. Several British academics said, among other things, that due to our intense use of phones, a deep emotional attachment was created with them. It is not strange that the theft of a phone is reported up to three times faster than that of a wallet. And besides, it hurts a lot more.
The researchers pointed out that since mobile phones were highly visible objects while in use, their aesthetics ended up being an expression of the personal identity of their owner. There is no greater sign of arrogance and power – even if it is camouflaged with love for Apple's design – than carrying an iPhone without a case.
In men, like Rolexes and expensive cars, phones seem to have a boosting effect on testosterone levels. This is despite the fact that in 2023 a study from the University of Geneva warned that those who checked the phone more than 20 times a day had a lower sperm count. From this trial, carried out on young people between 18 and 22 years old, the recommendation came that they refrain from carrying the phone in their pants pocket. The men in these photos, sartorial and good-looking, carry it in the inside pocket of their tuxedo. For whatever reason.
At the last Paris Fashion Week an extravaganza added or removed a layer of symbolism from the phone. The Olsen sisters, creative directors of The Row, the brand without logos, without advertising and with exorbitant prices that has just entered the list of the most desired on the Lyst Index, prohibited the entry of mobile phones in their parade. The telephone was expelled from the temple of silent luxury and, from now on, also invisible.
It could be a pragmatic decision to protect themselves from copies, but the very clever Olsens dressed it with emotion: whoever wanted to see their creations would have to do so with their own eyes and taking notes in a Japanese paper notebook. As far as I know, no one missed the parade out of solidarity and emotional attachment to her cell phone. And the phone was declared persona non grata. It will not be the last time. This is how empires begin to fall.
