In recent years, the manosphere — a community of online networks promoting hypermasculinity, anti-feminism, and rigid traditional gender roles — has surged into the spotlight in social media. Social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, and podcasting platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, have especially helped the manosphere become more mainstream, pumping out endless loops of black pill edits and podcasts pushing alpha male monologues from prominent figures like Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan.
School psychologist Glenn Fisher attributes this rise partly to today’s increasingly right-wing political climate. However, he also believes that this issue stems from deep generational and historical roots of gender roles and standards — which were never completely overcome in the first place.
“It’s how we’ve seen ourselves as Americans, which probably predates the 60s and 70s, going back to 50s and 40s and beyond that, where roles were very well defined,” Fisher said. “Men are one way and women are the other way — and men do this and women do that. The government wants to pigeonhole people because it’s easier to control people that way.”
While the origin of the manosphere can be traced back to the Men’s Liberation Movement in the 60s and 70s, it is now primarily seen through online networks and groups such as Men’s Rights Activists, Men Going Their Own Way, and Pick Up Artists. Through short-from content, podcasts and even songs, these groups work to fan the flame in each other and hope to influence young boys to join their cause. For example, MGTOW believes that society is rigged against them and aims to change the course of politics to further benefit them over women, while PUA are built on hypermasculinity and see “picking up” women as a game with strategies and techniques.
Fisher explains that when boys grow up conditioned to believe they can’t show vulnerability, they often struggle to form close friendships or talk honestly about their struggles. Over time, that has contributed to what some may call the “male loneliness epidemic,” where men feel isolated from others yet don’t know how to or are discouraged from seeking support. However, though the epidemic focuses on the exclusive loneliness of men, it is actually a growing issue that impacts all Americans by fueling resentment between genders and different ideologies. By framing the manosphere and its result of isolation as things that only impact men, we diminish the true extent of its harm.
For women, the effects of the manosphere look different but are just as serious. Many manosphere spaces promote the reductive idea that women exist to be controlled, judged and ranked. This often escalates into physical violence, harassment and threats — especially toward female creators who speak out or challenge these beliefs, turning sexism into a normal part of life. As the manosphere continues to push more intensely for more extreme misogyny, it will continue to fester outside of social media and seep into physical violence toward women and further define America’s political standings. This was seen as early as 2018, where a self-proclaimed incel — short for involuntary celibate, another online manosphere group — killed 11 people due to his hatred for women.
Even people who don’t follow manosphere creators are not necessarily removed from their influence. This ideology, though it can be loud and direct, may also show up subtly in casual jokes insulting women and feminism or TikTok edits romanticizing controlling behaviors. Netflix’s hit series “Adolescence,” a show that critiques the encouragement of hypermasculinity and independence in young boys, is a clear manifestation of the manosphere’s gaining popularity, displayed through its criticism of black pill ideology as well as the backlash it’s received from many male viewers, who feel threatened or misrepresented by the show’s commentary. These ideas influence all genders and contribute to a school climate where gender stereotypes are reinforced, harmfully so. The habit of closing oneself off from peers, objectifying women and resorting to violence is a habit that any age can pick up, after all.
The rapid growth of both critics and supporters of the manosphere is a reminder that the patriarchy harms everyone, not just women. As Fisher points out, it restricts men’s emotional lives, narrowing their futures and pressuring them into hypermasculine roles that are often unattainable and unhealthy. Similarly, it reveals how feminism is not an attack toward men but rather a movement that hopes to benefit everyone. Though it is often mischaracterized in manosphere spaces — seen as the primary cause of the male loneliness epidemic and misandry — ultimately, its goal is grounded in building equity and community across all genders.
But why do boys latch onto the manosphere when it condemns their insecurities, undermines their emotions and encourages division among genders? According to Fisher, this vulnerability gap is exactly the reason why many young boys find the manosphere so enticing. For boys looking for structure or belonging, as everyone does, the manosphere and its ideas can feel reassuring.
“Especially if you’re at the adolescent age, one of the challenges of students is really finding out who you are and what path you’re going to take,” Fisher said. “And when someone gives you easy answers, it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, that’s who I am,’ as opposed to doing the deeper work in discovering for yourself. The effect also changes within the U.S. based on region and even culture. If you live in a more educated metropolitan area, your understanding of the world is broader than living in a small town in the Midwest — which is someplace where everyone’s experienced and learned the same thing — and if that message is to be hypermasculine, then that’s all you know. So for them, the manosphere is just reinforcing what they’ve already been taught or observed.”
We need to take this cultural shift — or rather, regression — seriously. Social media algorithms will continue to amplify these messages that prey on insecurity and division to garner profit, so viewers have the responsibility to use empathy and critical thinking to recognize narratives that ultimately help no one.
Our challenge — not just as students trying to create a safer school environment but also as members of a society — is to hold ourselves and our peers accountable in the face of social media brainwashing. However, acknowledging and resolving the harmful impacts of the manosphere shouldn’t be done by demonizing boys or policing what students watch online. When discussing the underlying issues, we must tackle them not through us vs. them arguments or sweeping generalizations, but through communal efforts to prioritize empathy and communication. These honest conversations are the first step to finally diminishing a societal structure which divides genders and restricts emotional expression.
