Each week, Prudence asks readers for their thoughts on the letters she’s received. Her reply will be available every Friday only for Slate Plus members .

Hey Prudence,

Re Blind Sided: This is based on nothing but my own personal observations, but there’s a tendency I’ve noticed with my own husband and his friends and family, as well as with most of my friends’ husbands. I think it’s a big part of the “male loneliness epidemic.”

It seems men almost completely outsource kin-keeping to their wives and girlfriends. They simply do not put in the effort to maintain relationships. They do put in some effort with their families, but not nearly as much as their wives do.

We see lots of letters where mothers-in-law complain that their daughters-in-law favor their own families,

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