The Manosphere is a collection of websites, podcasts and digital forums promoting masculinity and opposing the toxic elements of feminism. Communities within the manosphere include the Red Pill Movement, Men’s Rights Movement, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) and many others. The manosphere overlaps with traditional or conservative values. Much like any social or political movement, the movement has also been associated with online harassment as it’s evolving and establishing itself as a voice and safe haven for men.
The Origins of the MRM
Rooted in the 1970s and established alongside the WLM, the origins of the MRM, the Men’s Liberation Movement (MLM) was initially an ally of feminism, with shared acknowledgement of the damage incurred by both men and women from rigidly enforced sex roles (Messner, 1998). It was recognised that not only was sexism harmful to women, but men also suffered as a result of strictly enforced expectations of masculinity, as psychologist Jack Sawyer (1970, p. 1) stated ‘male liberation calls for men to free themselves from the sex role stereotypes that limit their ability to be human’. Stereotypes included how men related to women, questions of power and dominance in public and private life and the ability to fully express emotions.
It was generally educated men in colleges and universities who engaged with feminist ideas and politics and attempted to understand their role and how they too experienced negative impacts from the issues harming women. However, from the outset, there were tensions within the MLM, in particular the paradox of recognising that, on the one hand, men benefit from systemic privileges, whilst, on the other hand, certain masculine pressures are harmful to them. Pleck (1974, 1995) attempted to navigate this complexity by asserting that though they hold institutional power in societies, most men do not actually feel powerful, creating a further conundrum for men to reconcile with – why do they not feel powerful when they are supposed to? Pleck (1974, 1995, p. 7) argued that the male sex role, which necessitated men having to compete and publicly win, was emotionally fraught, which in turn led to men feeling that women had what he termed ‘expressive power’ and ‘masculinity-validating’ power over them.
The Ideology
The manosphere ideology is centered on male rights, independence and strongly believes that toxic feminism has corrupted societies around the world. Male self-preservation groups (MGTOW) calls for complete disengagement from marriage in-order to avoid enduring the systemic gynocentric bias against men in the real world. According to them, there are double standards in gender roles and bias against men in family courts.
How do young people access manosphere content?
Many manosphere groups host their own websites and have seen increasing traffic with some seeing growth from thousands to millions of subscribers. However, these groups can also be found on popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Reddit in particular is home to many manosphere communities, although the most popular MGTOW and some Red Pill subreddits have recently been banned.
