[alabastervlog]

The name they've decided to give these, "emergency" chickens, knitting them for hurricane survivors. It's all a step up from just "we like these and they're nice" and into "these are Helpful with a capital H".

My point is exactly that that kind of thing reads like a joking exaggeration, but this sort of approach to things is really common now and I truly have trouble telling when people are joking or being serious about it. Most of it reads like joking to me, but I don't know. It's also been going on long enough that it's making me wonder even more, since, judged as a joke, it was played out and over-done years ago.

[tshaddox]

I think you're pretty clearly experiencing a false positive on your "major cultural problem" detector. The chickens are cute and comforting, no doubt, and people are referring to them as "emotional support chickens" and "emergency chickens" as a tongue-in-cheek hyperbole. Note how the chickens are given names like "Hennifer Lopez" and "Lindsey LoHEN." You even say that it reads like a joking exaggeration, but apparently your confirmation bias is strong enough to override that observation?

[tokai]

There's lots of research showing stuffed animals can reduce stress even in adults. There is no joke here.

[alabastervlog]

You're weirdly concerned about how much I'm reacting, which is pretty minimally. Like, I can't imagine how I could have raised this while reacting any less. But yes, I also saw your other post and got your message that you're bothered I brought this up at all. [EDIT] Ah, ninja-edited this paragraph into irrelevance! :-)

Maybe you need a chicken. [EDIT] But perhaps we all need chickens?

But thank you for helping me understand this. The framing is 100% serious, I guess.

[s1artibartfast]

I would say that it is 99% joke, but the 1% is important in validating, justifying, and elevating the concept in the current culture.