Spend 90 minutes watching Louis Theroux’s latest documentary, Inside the Manosphere on Netflix, and you’re bound to leave with some questions—and probably a deep feeling of dread. Even before you watch, you might be wondering: What is the manosphere? Is it an actual place? And how does one leave it?
Theroux’s documentary explores the extreme end of the spectrum, interviewing the likes of Harrison Sullivan (HSTikkyTokky), Myron Gaines, and Justin Waller—all of whom have forged careers in the so-called manosphere. It turns out you don’t have to be a self-styled millionaire influencer to access the manosphere; it’s under our noses, all the time.
Here, Glamour explores the origins of the manosphere, unpacks why it appeals so much to men and boys, and, most important, how it impacts women and girls.
What is the manosphere?
The manosphere refers to a loose web of digital spaces that claim to address men’s issues, from fatherhood to body image and mental health. In reality, these online communities often promote harmful attitudes and ideologies, which position feminism—that is, the pursuit of gender equality—as a direct threat to men’s socio-political status and wellbeing.
The manosphere can be understood as a collection of “anti-feminist online communities which have grown online over the last few years,” says Cécile Simmons, author of CTRL HATE DELETE: The New Anti-Feminist Backlash and How We Fight It. “A few years ago, you could easily keep track of manosphere forums. Today, it’s difficult to really know what we’re talking about when we talk about the manosphere online because these ideas are circulating everywhere in more or less diluted forms.”
But it’s not just individual influencers who are responsible for the manosphere’s harms; it’s the tech companies helping them go viral. “The rise of the manosphere is often framed as a cultural crisis driven by a handful of toxic influencers,” says Seyi Akiwowo, author of How to Stay Safe Online. “But the deeper truth is that it grew inside digital platforms whose business models reward outrage, humiliation, and conflict because those emotions drive engagement.”
Think about it: Why does content depicting women getting “owned” or “humbled” go viral so easily? Andrew ‘Bernie’ Bernard, an educator who facilitates workshops with men and boys about masculinity, previously told Glamour, “It’s the perfect tool, isn’t it? There’s this idea that feminism has gone too far, so let’s see the manosphere drag them down. Let’s invent something that says men are being targeted by feminism, and then let’s see the men fight back.”
As Akiwowo says, “When humiliating and scapegoating women drives cheap engagement, humiliation becomes part of the platform economy platforms have built.
“The manosphere is therefore not just a fringe subculture but a predictable outcome of the incentives created by tech platforms themselves. These systems harm everyone: women who are targeted with abuse, and boys and men who are drawn into increasingly extreme content ecosystems. Yet the platforms benefiting from this dynamic face far less scrutiny than the individuals caught inside it.”
UN Women identifies the following (non-exhaustive) categories of manosphere communities:
Involuntary celibates (Incels): “Believe that men are entitled to sex, and women purposefully deprive them of it.”
Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs): “Often take an academic tone to claim that feminism and women’s rights—to vote, to education, to leadership positions—have disadvantaged men.”
Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW): “Suggests society is rigged against men—and that it is best to avoid women, and even mainstream society, altogether.”
Pick-Up Artists: “Teach members how to coerce women into sex and mock the idea of sexual consent.”
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