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Time to "Man up"?

Uncategorized Apr 30, 2026

Descriptions of, and attempts to codify, patriarchal hierarchies can be seen in writings dating back to the ancient Greek and Roman empires. Even religious texts set out notions that women should be seen as secondary or subservient to men; the bible going so far as to depict Eve as responsible for the downfall of humanity through an act of temptation in an effort to establish an innate weak or deceitful nature. 

Often, this has been sexualised, even fetishised as part of misogynistic thought as can be seen during the witch trials that spanned almost 400 years. In this period, 40 to 60 thousand people were killed - 75 to 80% of them women and the majority 40 or above. Accusations often involved lurid notions of witches being seduced by devils or tempting men into extra-marital trysts with some even being prosecuted for stealing penises! This hypersexualisation of women fed into fears of male impotency and perceived loss of power or control but also highlighted the lack of value placed on women in society unwilling or unable to bear children.

More recently, the 20th century has seen women gain the vote via the suffragette movement, though contemporary arguments against this now accepted decision included the destruction of the family unit, abandonment of marriages and accusations of an overly emotional temperament being unsuited to such a decision.

Similarly, critics of 1960s/70s ‘Second Wave’ feminism - focused on areas such as reproductive rights and workplace equality - would routinely focus on the perceived threat to the family or attack the appearance of activists, branding them ‘unfeminine’.

Again, the purpose is clear; to establish a claim that there is only one notion of how a woman should behave and negotiate socially which aligns with a patriarchal power structure.

The latest rise in misogyny now can be linked to instabilities stemming from economic inequality, population shifts and a decline in industry seeing an end to ‘stable, well paid roles. This creates an environment where anger and resentment grow and scapegoats for blame are identified, regardless of reason or fact. This, again, is nothing new but this modern rise in misogynistic ideology is powered and accelerated by technology in a way that has never existed previously through forums and apps, making the manosphere appear inescapable and suffocating.

Within this, we can identify two inter-connected strands: the first being the question of who this benefits.

The modern global political landscape is right leaning; of course Trump is President in America once more but there are also growing right wing parties that formerly sat on the peripheries throughout Europe and beyond. Globally, ‘traditional values’ dominate domestic policy, promoting wage disparity and employment discrimination while domestic abuse and sexual violence are routinely trivialised or left unchecked, despite public rhetoric to the contrary.

Right leaning politics emphasises the individual over the collective, promoting an idea of the male as the protector, the leader, saving his family - depicted as wife and children but also sometimes parents depending on cultural norms - from external ‘others’, always seeking to destroy or debase that harmony. It also promotes tax breaks and protections for the rich as well as a reduction in regulation that would protect those less fortunate; be that employment rights, environmental protections or discrimination laws.

In order to normalise and perpetuate this position, it could be argued that social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Tiktok - all now owned by a select, small group tied to the Trump administration - allow misogynistic material to flow unchecked through their platforms - material that previously sat on the extreme edges of internet chat spaces - specifically to radicalise and indoctrinate young people to right wing ideology and without a concern for the real damage this causes for the targets - the others - it identifies.

The second, connected strand is that almost invariably, manosphere promoters are grifters or scammers; using their platforms to profit on the very real desperations and fears of young, impressionable males.

Regularly, manosphere influencers will present themselves as paragons of a particularly juvenile view of masculinity; promoting wealth and physical strength as the only definitions of manhood. From here, some will start to offer life or fitness advice that can range from the banal to the ridiculous but can quickly progress into more insidious and damaging content that feeds into insecurities and invites subscribers to buy further, more extreme content or attend courses promoting ‘Alpha Male’ training. Alternatively, fraudulent financial products or courses - often based around crypto investing - are promoted that would guarantee any would-be investors the exact lifestyle flaunted by the influencer. These, of course, come to nothing and were the subject of discussion during Louis Theroux’s recent documentary Inside The Manosphere.

Competition for attention in these increasingly saturated spaces can be fierce and creates an outrage economy that effectively rewards the more extreme content with an audience temporarily, then demands ever more to maintain it. This results in horrifying content being created and pushed to increasing numbers of young men, seeking to normalise basic brutality and barbaric acts for profit. This can be seen at it’s worst in the recent sickening revelations of an online rape academy - a collection of words I never thought I would have to write or say. This shows how far online spaces have gone to embolden and solidify casual misogyny within society to create a culture in which vile sexual violence is not just openly promoted but now with a price point.

The final part of this discussion today is to talk about what we can do to fight back against this, to draw out the poison of misogyny. At times when creating this, I have wondered if I’m the right person to speak on that - my anger and disgust for it has not diminished but at times a very real sense of hopelessness can take hold around the continuation and acceleration of this, especially for younger generations. The fact is that toxic, hateful attitudes of discrimination rely on this feeling of helplessness, cultivate it even, to continue; the more fearful or emotionally withdrawn critics are, the less they fight back allowing the harm to spread further. No, speaking out and speaking up are essential - especially for men sickened by this behaviour. It has never been enough just to ‘know’ that you stand against it, you need to actively be part of the fight or else be complicit in its continuation. Educate yourselves, call out your friends and relatives, model more positive and collaborative forms of masculinity for younger generations to see there are alternatives to destructive domination and selfishness. Men MUST be part of a positive solution to this situation because, make no mistake of it, this is a male problem and that fact needs to be accepted without any conditions or clauses: YOU may not have created this situation but you still bear responsibility for stopping it.

In addition, it also needs to be accepted that misogyny does not exist within a vacuum. Discrimination breeds discrimination and therefore hatred along lines of sexuality, race or religion quickly accompany gender based anger and violence. Discrimination OF ALL forms must be resisted with no one group left out because if one is allowed to be viewed as ‘lesser’ it creates conditions in which any other could fall in future.

Finally there is the question of hope. There MUST be a belief that things can improve, that attitudes within humanity can change so that the mainstream does not just reject such degrading and violent views but actively seeks to protect citizens from the harms they bring. Education and legislation would go hand in hand here, dispelling the myths of male-centric history and achievement spread within these spheres while creating hate speech and safety laws with adequate teeth to provide a real bite to those who would seek to break them.

That being said, punishment and shame should not be used against individuals swept up by the manosphere. In reality, this would likely only strengthen those ideas and notions or push people further into the fringes, ever more susceptible to influence of that type. As hurtful and destructive as manosphere influencers are, they provide a sense of community, of belonging for lost young men who believe society has abandoned them. Some form of alternative, real direction is necessary and must be seen as viable and achievable to provide a positive future outcome.

Alongside this, the social conditions that breed such hatred must also be tackled; rising economic inequality, misinformation and identity politics are not just fertile grounds in which discrimination can flourish - they actively rely on and encourage it in order to prosper. This provides the feared ‘other’, the enemy seeking to take jobs, sponge from the state, ruin families and subvert established norms that can be focused on while economies are restructured in a more favourable way for an increasingly small group at the expense of the rest.

It is fully appreciated that this can sound like an overly grand, possibly unrealistic leftie dream and partly that’s because it is, or at least would be if taken as a plan that needs to happen all at once. There is, absolutely, a need for urgency but steps still need to be taken and secured to enable proper, permanent change. A focus on addressing and challenging immediate environments must be first -  friendship groups and immediate family - before a wider societal change can be triggered. Financial considerations too - who we choose to spend our money with and the motivations behind those companies - must also form part of this. Small steps perhaps, but the more people taking them with you, the bigger the overall distance we can cover.

Andrew James - Risk & Resilience Strategy & Development Lead

 

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