A Look into the Manosphere: The Climate of Misogyny, Incels, and Deadly Resentments

Trigger Warning:

This blog post contains discussions and references to themes that may be distressing to some readers, including misogyny, violence, incel ideologies, far-right extremism, sexual violence, hate speech, gender-based violence, political content, and the use of derogatory language such as the word "b*tch." Reader discretion is advised.

On November 6, 2024, Donald Trump was announced as the winner of the US election and would return to the White House as the 47th President[1]. While women, queer, and trans people worldwide reacted with horror to another Trump administration[2], the result of this election reveals the pervasive climate of misogyny shaping current political discourse. American misogyny was evidently on the ballot throughout this recent election, and the call for a return to the ‘traditional’ golden era of hegemonic masculinity – one that glorified ‘manly men’ and women who ‘knew their place’ – is implicit in Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement [3].  The allure of this hypermasculine promise was evident, with election statistics showing that men aged 18 to 29 turned out in large numbers for Trump, [4] subverting the generational tendency of young people voting in favour of left-leaning candidates. This is certainly not an anomalous phenomenon and the yawning ideological chasm between the genders is evident across the globe, with young men demonstrating increasingly conservative tendencies compared to their more progressive female contemporaries[5].

Mark McKinnon, ‘Men in Red: Why More and More Young Male Voters Are Being MAGA-fied’ (Vanity Fair, 24 October 2024)

A clear connection underlies this apparent global gender divide – that of the online realm of the ‘manosphere’ that has stoked the flames of this globalised trend of misogyny. Advocacy group Hope not Hate defines the so-called ‘manosphere’ as the “loose collection of websites, forums, blogs, and videos, concerned with men’s issues and masculinity, focused on opposing feminism and, within parts, an embrace of extreme misogyny”[6] (Emphasis added). Its influence is blatant in Trump’s campaign strategy of fostering support from male ‘influencers’, with efforts of Trump’s political appearances being redirected to interviews on platforms with male podcasters and public figures such as the likes of Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Logan Paul and Adin Ross – platforms which had previously starred leading figures of the anti-feminist movement including Andrew Tate (currently accused of the rape and trafficking of women), and Nick Fuentes (an advocate of white supremacy and extremist views of misogyny)[7].

Donald Trump’s, ‘The Logic behind Donald Trump’s Podcast Strategy’ (Columbia Journalism Review2021) https://www.cjr.org/analysis/donald-trump-podcasts-undertaker-joe-rogan.php

“The fact is, when you give women rights, they destroy absolutely everything around them, no matter what other variable is involved…Even if you become the ultimate alpha male, some stupid bitch will still ruin your life”[8]

These are the sentiments of Andrew Anglin, founder of the American far-right neo-Nazi website The Daily Storm. This vitriolic and misogynistic rhetoric is exemplary of that which circulates the manosphere, and the contemporary far-right landscape both in the UK and abroad is chock-full of vociferous and self-identified ‘activists’ who share this conspiratorial view of feminism. So, whilst recent years have seen noteworthy steps forward in gender equality – thanks in part to feminist campaigns such as the #MeToo movement – this progress has faced backlash from some online anti-feminist communities. There is, moreover, a worrying and robust symbiosis between this flavour of misogyny and the ideological proclivities of the far right. As an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report states: “whilst not all misogynists are racists, and not every white supremacist is a misogynist, a deep-seated loathing of women acts as connective tissue between white supremacists, especially those in the alt-right”[9].  Misogyny has become a key outreach tool, or rather the spearhead, for alt-right movements in favour of men’s rights acts as a steppingstone to the anti-Semitic, white supremacist, and homophobic ideologies of the alt-right. After all, a political climate that encourages the rhetoric of feminism being an attack on liberty, justice, equality, and meritocracy[10] - where women are made to be the scapegoats that threaten their stature as men – may very quickly become “minorities and their quest for equal rights imperil my status as a white man”. The misogyny of the manosphere, thus, speaks the very same language of alt-right movements, and whilst the far-right’s animosity towards women’s rights is far from novel, the emergence of this so-called “conspiratorial anti-feminism” ignited by the online community does pose an alarming threat globally[11].

What, or more precisely, who exists as part of the manosphere? Forming part of a subgroup of the manosphere, ‘incels’, a portmanteau for involuntary celibates, are online communities typically comprised of young men characterised by their “inability to form sexual relationships with women, and a strong negative focus on their appearance”[12]. Incels inhabit the digital ecosystem that is the manosphere, forming collective identities around their victimhood in what they deem society’s “feminist gynarchy”. Central to this is the highly misogynistic view that the current ‘sexual marketplace’ (a term imbued with neoliberal and capitalistic discourses, and  the dehumanising commodification of women), allegedly grants women too much freedom in choosing partners, leaving some men to be marginalised by their status as “beta” or “omega males” and snubbed of their ‘natural’ and sexual birthright[13].

Sara Spinks, ‘INCELS: An Extremist Ideology?’ (SSS Learning Limited16 January 2023) <https://ssslearning.co.uk/safeguarding-articles/incels-extremist-ideology> accessed 10 January 2025.

Central to the incel ideology is the sexual hierarchy, drawing from stereotypical characteristics of the ‘traditional’ cis-gendered hegemonic masculinity in (Western) societies. Society, according to the incel, is divided into a three-tiered hierarchy dictated by physical appearance. “Chad”, the incel’s personification of the idealistic hypermasculine, sits atop this hierarchy alongside his hyperfeminine, hypersexual, and attractive counterpart “Stacy”. More average-looking majorities – so-termed “normies” – are placed in the centre. Incels, then, are situated at the bottom of this hierarchy, adopting a sense of fatalism that they are doomed by their own genetics or immutable features[14]. Whilst Chad is described to have “hunter eyes” and high testosterone, “subhuman incels” posses “bug eyes”, “inferior genes” and are thus destined to have poor social skills and status[15].  Feeling victimised for not meeting the ideals of traditional hegemonic masculinity, these ideas are often used to justify extremist misogyny that are rampant in incel communities.

Feminism, therefore, and its capacity to subvert the cis-hetero-patriarchy, as well as its headway towards queer and female agency, stands as a beacon of all evils, an anathema to incels, and sub-communities within the manosphere alike. Feminism, then, becomes an easy scapegoat for all perceived tribulations that have allegedly befallen (white) men. As the ADL report most aptly puts: “Not getting dates? It’s a lot easier to blame feminism than your own terrible personality”[16].

In what ways, then, does manosphere rear its ugly head beyond the digital realm? A close examination of extremist violence may very well reveal the deadly resentments of the manosphere’s violently misogynistic rhetoric. In April 2018, for example, Alek Minassian killed 10 people and left 15 others injured when he drove his van into the sidewalks of a Toronto business district[17]. Days leading up to the massacre, Minassian had posted online comments in reverence of Elliot Rodger, a self-proclaimed fellow incel and poster-boy to the incel movement, who had previously murdered six people near the University of California just four years prior. Linked to the incel movement, Rodger leaves behind an infamous legacy through his online manifesto which bemoaned his virginity, hatred of women, and described himself as the “closest thing to a living God”, and that he was the “ideal, magnificent gentleman”, failing to comprehend why women would not want to have sex with him[18].  More locally, the UK itself has seen various acts of gendered terror related to the incel worldview. The recent Plymouth shooting in 2023 that resulted in the deaths of five people is reported to have been influenced by such ideologies, with killer Jake Davinson similarly demonstrating his idolisation of Rodger, and having previously described himself as a “virgin…fat, ugly” and his general disillusionment of life and overwhelming self-hatred[19]. The root of these attacks is analogous. Young men and boys who come to feel emasculated or humiliated desire a sense of “violent retribution”, and their “aggrieved entitlement inspires revenge against those who have wronged [them]”[20]. The manosphere, thus, only serves to inflame such malice.

It is perhaps easy to regard the manosphere and its rhetoric with a flippant attitude or even with a healthy amount of incredulity. After all, whilst misogyny is far from being infrequent, the language and attitudes adopted within the digital echo chamber often feel absurd or even dystopian. The rise in gender-based terror, however, reveals the sinister implications of this digital landscape. These cases are often not sporadic acts of terror, but rather symptomatic of the simmering climate of societal misogyny, and the rampant radicalisation amongst young men against feminism and women in general. With Elon Musk’s chokehold over social media platform X (previously named Twitter), the misogyny of the manosphere is moreover onthe verge of becoming mainstream, as evident in Trump’s presidential campaign. It is, therefore, high time we regard the manosphere with trepidation as the threat it will inevitably pose to women, minorities, and democracy as a whole.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] David Smith and Martin Pengelly, ‘Donald Trump Elected US President in Stunning Political Resurrection’ (the Guardian6 November 2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/06/donald-trump-wins-us-presidential-election>.

[2] Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, ‘People around the World Are Appalled by Trump’s Win, but Women Have Been Gripped by a Visceral Horror’ (the Guardian7 November 2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/07/trump-women-misogynist-hatred-american-bodies>.

[3] Julie Bindel, ‘Trump vs Harris: American Misogyny on the Ballot’ (Al Jazeera4 November 2024) <https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/11/4/trump-vs-harris-american-misogyny-on-the-ballot>.

[4] Ruth Igielnik, ‘Men and Women in the U.S. Continue to Differ in Voter Turnout Rate, Party Identification’ (Pew Research Center18 August 2020) <https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/08/18/men-and-women-in-the-u-s-continue-to-differ-in-voter-turnout-rate-party-identification/>.

[5] John Burn-Murdoch, ‘A New Global Gender Divide Is Emerging’ (Financial Times26 January 2024) <https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998>.

[6] Matthew Collins et al, ‘State of Hate 2019: People vs the Elite ’ (Hope Not Hate 2019).

[7] Michael Higgins and Angela Smith, ‘Needs Musk: Trump Turns to the Manosphere - Election Analysis - United States’ (Election Analysis - United States15 November 2024) <https://www.electionanalysis.ws/us/president2024/section-7-popular-culture/needs-musk-trump-turns-to-the-manosphere/> accessed 10 January 2025.

[8]Anti-Defamation League, ‘When Women Are the Enemy: The Intersection of Misogyny and White Supremacy’ (www.adl.org2018) <https://www.adl.org/resources/report/when-women-are-enemy-intersection-misogyny-and-white-supremacy>.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Matthew Collins et al, ‘State of Hate 2019: People vs the Elite ’ (Hope Not Hate 2019).

[11] Ibid.

[12] Emilia Lounela and Shane Murphy, ‘Incel Violence and Victimhood: Negotiating Inceldom in Online Discussions of the Plymouth Shooting’ (2023) 36 Terrorism and Political Violence 1.

[13] Shannon Zimmerman, ‘The Ideology of Incels: Misogyny and Victimhood as Justification for Political Violence’ (2022) 36 Terrorism and Political Violence 1.

 [14] Emilia Lounela and Shane Murphy, ‘Incel Violence and Victimhood: Negotiating Inceldom in Online Discussions of the Plymouth Shooting’ (2023) 36 Terrorism and Political Violence 1.

[15] Joshua Thorburn, Anastasia Powell and Peter Chambers, ‘A World Alone: Masculinities, Humiliation and Aggrieved Entitlement on an Incel Forum’ (2023) 63 British Journal Of Criminology 238.

[16] Anti-Defamation League, ‘When Women Are the Enemy: The Intersection of Misogyny and White Supremacy’ (www.adl.org2018) <https://www.adl.org/resources/report/when-women-are-enemy-intersection-misogyny-and-white-supremacy>.

[17] Emilia Lounela and Shane Murphy, ‘Incel Violence and Victimhood: Negotiating Inceldom in Online Discussions of the Plymouth Shooting’ (2023) 36 Terrorism and Political Violence 1.

[18] BBC News, ‘Elliot Rodger: How Misogynist Killer Became “Incel Hero”’ BBC News (26 April 2018) <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43892189>.

[19] Steven Morris, ‘Plymouth Shooter Fascinated by Serial Killers and “Incel” Culture, Inquest Hears’ (the Guardian18 January 2023) <https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/18/plymouth-shooter-jake-davison-fascinated-by-mass-shootings-and-incel-culture-inquest-hears>.

[20] Rachel Kalish and Michael Kimmel, ‘Suicide by Mass Murder: Masculinity, Aggrieved Entitlement, and Rampage School Shootings’ (2010) 19 Health Sociology Review 451.