Content warning: This article mentions of sexual assault.
From warning women about red flags from men to exposing men who believe the realities of this world include the submission of women, social media has facilitated conversations about all sorts of dangers. However, the larger threat of this all has slipped past us and made it into everyday life.
What started as an extreme viewpoint skirting on the darker side of social media has become a more subdued mainstream theme we don’t often notice until much later, having arguably even more dangerous consequences on both men and women alike. This ever-expanding and endangering entrancement is coined the “manosphere.”
But what exactly is it? The manosphere is the internet’s various parts that are directed towards men. It includes social media, group chats, websites, videos, podcasts, and everything in between. However, the New York Times notes that it can be “as harmless as a hobby and as dangerous as a gun; as obscure as a trivial subculture and as encompassing as American manhood itself.”
The term initially referred to darker, more extreme cultures on the fringe of the internet. Typically, the men who engage with these groups believe in male dominance and are trying to fight progressive changes towards women’s rights.
Men who are especially vulnerable to the manosphere are those who haven’t come to terms with these shifting gender norms, experience mental illnesses, or “are asked to share power and privilege for the first time,” says the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The museum says this is because the manosphere “promises men support and meaning” to men who feel isolated as these changes happen. However, it comes at the expense of women and promotes a strict idea of masculinity and being a man.
These extreme spaces often include “PUAs” — pick-up artists — who manipulate women into sleeping with them, not limiting sexual assulate or rape as tactics to do so. “Hustle bros” are a variation of PUAs, as they combine giving out misogynistic advice for men while also teaching them to boost their “masculinity” in other ways, such as schemes to accumulate wealth. “Incels,” or involuntary celibates, who blame women for their inability to find sexual partners also fall in this area.
This extreme fringe not only encourages violence towards women, but also creates hostile relationships between men. PUAs and hustle bros compete for money, status, and women. Incels personally attack each other and are often suicidal.
But the internet, by nature, is full of many ideas and is not discriminatory towards dangerous ones such as these. If these ideas aren’t mainstream, then why might they be an issue?
First of all, while these extreme values remain on the edge, they still cater to vulnerable men and boys who can carry out these violent actions, especially when they see manosphere influencers get away with them. For example, the Canadian museum says that since 2014, more than 50 people have died in Canada and the United States by self-named incels.
Similarly, former kickboxer and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate had millions of followers on various platforms before being banned from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube for his dangerous rhetoric in 2022, as reported by NBC News. Tate has faced various sexual violence and criminal charges in the U.K., the U.S., and most recently, in Romania. Although kept away from most social media sites, Tate had the opportunity to create and influence a massive number of people. He still has active accounts on other platforms, with his content circulating online.
Secondly, the manosphere isn’t limited to extreme ideas. Many enter it without intending to, by watching video game streams, workout videos, or various types of self-help content geared towards boys and men, regardless of their ideals.
The more this content is consumed, the more social media algorithms lead to potentially dangerous content, such as video game streams, workout videos, and self-help content. Only this time, they include smaller conversations leading to misogynistic ideals or buzzwords in their titles. This content is especially dangerous to boys and young men, as they are impressionable and often don’t pick up these subtle conversations.
The more content is consumed, the algorithm leads to full-on promotions of those ideals through podcasts and websites until extreme versions are reached. As boys and men consume this media in increasingly larger doses, they are more likely to excuse or engage in smaller or more subtle conversations until they reach more dangerous thoughts and behaviors.
But what is particularly worrisome about today’s climate? Awareness about the manosphere is increasing, especially with the release of Netflix’s Adolescence. Still, the more subtle but equally lethal versions of the manosphere are not only making their way mainstream but also becoming more socially accepted. Male public figures across the board have commented on manosphere-like things, which have both garnered attention and normalized such ideals.
For example, President Donald Trump has numerous sexual misconduct and assault allegation including rape. Most prominently however, the president is known for a 2005 tape of him saying, “When you’re a star […] you can do anything,” and even “Grab them by the pussy,” obtained by the Washington Post in October 2016, one month before being elected into office during his first term.
Similarly, just earlier this year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan that while women should be able to succeed in a corporate environment, the industry should become more aggressive and masculine. For younger men, many of these influencers are combat athletes, such as UFC fighters who have endless access to wealth, women, and alcohol.
Additionally, this is seen in a lot of today’s policymaking. For example, the proposed SAVE Act, which has passed the House, could prevent women who have changed their name after marriage from voting, says POLITICO. On the other hand, the New York Times reports there is a growing movement to see more babies and a focus on the traditional family in the U.S., which some fear would place women back in the house and traditional gender norms, reversing a lot of the progress made.
And what’s even more alarming, the manosphere isn’t just a fight for male supremacy. Many of these manosphere or manosphere adjacent influencers follow other extreme paths such as white supremacy, anti-semitism, islamophobia, and an intense hatred of the LGBTQ+ community. The more young men follow one path, the closer they are to many other forms of hatred and danger.
But the story doesn’t end there. The men who go down this path of intense hatred can find a way back. Men who did leave the manosphere told USA Today they did so by consistently putting time into and seeking help for their mental health, getting involved in real-life communities and volunteering, finding hobbies and learning new skills, and joining online support groups.
Additional tips include thinking critically about the content you’re watching and the creator’s motives, maintaining a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition, physical activity, and sleep, and getting offline and investing time into healthy relationships, according to USA Today. Positive relationships with both men and women can help counter the effects of the nanospheres, as much of the misogyny and toxic masculinity is reversed.
Preventative measures, such as parents speaking and checking in with their children and various forms of education on masculinity and healthy relationships, can also be helpful. That can be through formal school programs that facilitate discussion on these topics, engaging with more positive social media content that aims to teach young men about these ideas with a dose of humor, such as @sexedforguys on TikTok.
Most importantly, we must be aware of the dangers of the manosphere. Regardless of the intensity of their comments, as men in positions of power speak and act in misogynistic ways in front of the media, their language and actions are seen by the world.
This is followed by two reactions: either those behaviors are increasingly accepted, or we ignore them. This could be for various reasons: not picking up on those behaviors in the first place, feeling like it isn’t too serious, supporters being influenced to act the same, those who have similar ideals feeling like they can finally act, or even feeling like nothing we do can change anything. But the result is the same: the manosphere reaches deeper into society, and we are none the wiser about just how dangerous it could be for both our men and women.