Summer 2025 Issue

Mobilizing Against the Manosphere
By Jamie Santa Cruz
Social Work Today
Vol. 25 No. 3 P. 18

A Social Worker’s Guide to Countering Online Misogyny in Young Men

In the hit British crime drama Adolescence, 13-year-old Jamie Miller is accused of the murder of a teenage girl who attends his school. The series focuses on whether a teenage boy could be capable of committing such a murder, and in the process, it delves into the themes of toxic masculinity, misogyny, and gender-based violence, as well as the role of the “manosphere” in promoting these themes.

Although the series is fictional, the concerns it raises are real. The manosphere—a vast online network promoting male supremacist ideologies and misogyny—is increasingly moving into the mainstream, with social media algorithms pushing its dangerous content to young men. Evidence suggests young males are absorbing these messages, leading to potentially dangerous results.

“Misogyny has always been an issue in the United States and around the world,” says Lydia Bates, senior program manager of partnerships in the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “I think what we’re seeing right now is more visibility of it.”

Fortunately, social workers are uniquely positioned to understand the vulnerabilities that draw young men into these harmful narratives and to guide them away from radicalization towards healthier, more respectful paths.

What Is the Manosphere?
Both sexism (prejudice based on sex) and misogyny (dislike of or contempt for women) are age-old, but online spaces and social media platforms have spawned a new vehicle for them: the manosphere.

Coined around 2009, the term manosphere refers to a collection of blogs, forums, and online spaces that claim to address men’s issues like dating and fitness, or parenting, but are steeped in male supremacist ideology. These spaces serve as hotbeds where men organize and mobilize around misogyny and toxic masculinity.

The manosphere has its origins in the Men’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, which critiqued the oppressiveness of traditional gender roles for men. Initially, the Men’s Liberation Movement was an ally of feminism,1 but in the 1970s, a new branch of the movement began criticizing feminism. This new branch of the movement began to claim that men, rather than women, are systematically disadvantaged in society, and that women and feminism are the sources of many of men’s problems.1 Today’s manosphere perpetuates this antiwomen ideology, uniting various communities around the belief that feminine values unfairly dominate society and promote an antimale ideology that must be overturned.2

A central metaphor of the manosphere is the metaphor of the “red pill,” from the 1999 movie The Matrix. In the manosphere, the red pill represents “enlightenment” to the “true” nature of male-female relations. “Red-pilled” men are those who have awakened to the reality that society is rigged against them. The metaphor of the red pill also includes the idea that the concept of “male privilege” is a feminist conspiracy intended to help women dominate.

Notable manosphere communities include the following:

• Men’s Rights Activists: fights against perceived institutional oppression of men.

• Pick-Up Artists: shares manipulative techniques for picking up women.

• Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW): advocates for men abandoning women due to perceived toxicity.

• Incels (involuntary celibates): comprising mostly men rejected by women and who blame women and feminism for their inability to find sexual partners.

Research suggests newer communities like MGTOW and incels are more toxic and misogynistic than earlier groups.1

The most well-known individual name from the manosphere is Andrew Tate, a social media influencer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on Twitter and has been one of the most googled people in the world in recent years.3 Tate is known for violent language about women and for making statements such as that women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted. (He has been charged with multiple different crimes—including rape, human trafficking, and sexual assault—in Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.)4

Young men are heavily exposed to manosphere content. Studies show that social media algorithms on platforms like YouTube and TikTok regularly feed misogynistic content to young male users,5-7 with one study indicating it took only 23 minutes on average for young male users to start seeing misogynistic content after opening a new account (even if they hadn’t searched for this content).8 A 2025 report by Movember Institute of Men’s Health found that two-thirds of young males are regularly engaging with manosphere content.9

Not only are young men exposed to the manosphere, but they also resonate with its messages. Nearly half of young American men say they trust at least one “men’s rights,” antifeminist, or proviolence voice from the manosphere.10 About half also think men face discrimination—a higher percentage than among other age groups.11 A Swedish study found that increased exposure to manosphere influencers was linked to young men adopting dehumanizing views and increased mistrust of women.12

It is not clear how often the misogynist messages propagated in the manosphere translate to real-world discrimination and violence against girls and women. There are high-profile cases of men linked to the incel community committing misogyny-driven mass murders, including in Isla Vista, California (2014); Roseburg, Oregon (2015); Toronto, Canada (2018); and Plymouth, England (2021).13,14

What Makes Young Men Vulnerable to Misogyny?
The problem’s root lies in American society’s historically sexist, patriarchal culture, where men have traditionally held power and are often conditioned to expect it, says Moshe Rozdzial, PhD, a licensed professional counselor and certified sex therapist and trauma counselor in private practice in Denver. The rise of feminism challenges this status, leading some men to react defensively.

“If you are born into a male supremacy, you are taught that you are entitled to all kinds of unearned privileges,” says Rozdzial, who is also the national cochair of The National Organization for Men Against Sexism. “If you find yourself not getting the privileges and entitlements that you deserve, you’re going to look for and blame others.”

While the desire to preserve male privilege partially explains the appeal of misogynistic messaging, other factors play in as well:

Economic Precarity
Over the past generation, young men have experienced stagnating wages, lower employment rates, and reduced overall wealth, mostly due to structural changes in the economy (like the rise in inequality and automation) that have disproportionately affected men working manual jobs.15

“Men are losing this traditional role of being able to be the earners in the family,” says Adam Brown, MSW, PhD, an associate professor in the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York. “They are saying, ‘What the hell happened? I did what my dad did and learned a trade, why can’t I have a little house and a boat?’”

Although young men’s economic precarity is not women’s fault, it can make men vulnerable to messages that they are victims. And when young men contrast the growing challenges they face with the increasing social, economic, and political success women are experiencing,16 they may conclude that female empowerment equates to male disempowerment.

Social Factors Such as Trauma, Abuse, Experience of Loss, and Loneliness
“Oftentimes, these views are happening simultaneously with a really difficult, traumatic situation in that person’s life. So maybe they just experienced a personal loss, or it could be something as simple as they moved schools and they lost access to their friend group,” Bates says.

Loneliness is one specific risk factor worth mentioning, given that the United States is currently confronting a crisis of loneliness, particularly among young men. According to a Gallup report earlier this year, one in four young men in the United States report feeling lonely, significantly higher than the national average for other age groups and significantly higher than the rate for young men in many other countries.17 “Loneliness, alienation, and ostracization are all predictors of seeking out extremist groups,” says Pasha Dashtgard, PhD, director of research for the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University. “It’s not always the ideology that draws them into extremism. People tend to join extremist groups because they need community.”

According to Dashtgard, many young men who get caught up in misogyny do so accidentally. “There is a contingent of people who are earnestly and genuinely looking for help and guidance, and advice. They’re not all misogynists. They’re normal dudes who just feel insecure, they feel unsure, they want tips for how to get a girlfriend and how to dress well,” he explains. “If you go to YouTube right now and you search for how to get a girlfriend, the first hit you’re going to get is nonsense—male supremacist nonsense.

Unfortunately, the manosphere tends to reach young men at a vulnerable time in their lives, when they are just making their entrance into the dating world and are experiencing their first embarrassments and rejections with young women. The manosphere takes advantage of young men and offers them a twisted lens through which to interpret these experiences.18

“Boys have always been nervous talking to girls. A high school boy is going to feel insecure about his body,” Dashtgard says. But the idea that women are to blame for boys’ struggles is new. The logic of the manosphere “takes a normal human experience and filters it through a lens that makes a person feel like women are to blame for their insecurities or problems. ‘It’s women’s fault that I feel this way, oh, now I resent women.’”

How Social Workers Can Help
Social workers have a vital role in preventing young men from being drawn into misogynistic radicalism. Since this topic isn’t typically covered in social work programs, professionals must actively educate themselves on these ideologies and associated risk factors. “You don’t want to wander into a conversation and then find that you don’t know the first thing about how to approach this, and this is a kid who is spending 12 hours a day reading Andrew Tate talking points,” Dashtgard says.

Tips on how to help include the following:

• Focus on prevention. “There isn’t a good mechanism for pulling people back [from radicalization] once they have already gotten pulled in,” Dashtgard explains. The key is to spot risk factors in advance and intervene before young people veer into extremism.

• Watch for warning signs. Changes in language are one important signal that a young man is vulnerable to misogyny. “The male supremacist ideology is known for having a niche language,” Bates says. “It is hard to give a list of terms you need to look for, because it changes quite frequently. But if a young person in your life starts using terms you haven’t heard, that they haven’t used before, that should raise a red flag.

• Also take note if a young person expresses bitterness about women. “If they’re talking about perceived grievances—that they are not being given the time, the labor, the attention that they feel they deserve from girls and women—that’s another red flag,” Bates says.

• Talk with young men about media literacy and digital literacy. Discuss how algorithms work, why social media pushes anger-inducing content, and the dynamics of echo chambers and filter bubbles. Explore the importance of moderation policies and what happens in unmoderated online spaces (extremists often take over). Help young men develop critical thinking skills to evaluate sources.

• Zoom in on the issue of meaningful relationships. Again, loneliness and isolation are key risk factors for radicalization. Engage young men in conversations about their relationships and identify those who care about them. If a young man lacks meaningful relationships, Dashtgard says, talk about why—and work on a plan to solve the problem.

• “Get boys exposed to prosocial peer groups and activities–whether it’s sports, drama, scouting, etc,” Brown suggests. Not only do these activities help boys form peer friendships but they also connect young people with adult mentors, who can help boys steer clear of radicalization.

• Teach boys to talk about feelings. “In male supremacy, we have very powerful messages about who a man has to be,” Rozdzial says. “Men are taught not to seek help, not to express emotion, not to express vulnerability, because that will be seen as less of a man.” Unfortunately, the inability to express emotion or show vulnerability prevents the formation of meaningful relationships.

• The role of social workers, then, is to help boys learn these skills that traditional masculinity suppresses. “Teach boys to access their feelings, talk about them, and lean into their vulnerability,” Brown encourages.

• Be curious, not judgmental. “If you’re coming at an individual who you believe has become susceptible to a male supremacist worldview from a place of punishment and judgment, it’s very possible that that is just going to drive them further into that ideology,” Bates says.
Instead of showing disapproval, ask nonjudgmental open-ended questions: Where did you hear that? Do you think this source is reliable? How do you think this point of view affects others?

• Finally, remember that pulling someone out of radicalization is a long-term process. “You’re not going to have one conversation and they’re going to be like, by the light of reason, I see that you are correct,” Dashtgard says. “It’s going to be that you are slowly offering someone a life raft to pull themselves out.”

— Jamie Santa Cruz is a freelance writer based in Parker, Colorado.

USEFUL RESOURCES
Not Just a Joke: Understanding & Preventing Gender- & Sexuality-Based Bigotry: A 2024 guide from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University, available at https://www.splcenter.org/resources/guides/peril-understanding-preventing-gender-sexuality-bigotry/

Young Men’s Health in a Digital World: A 2025 report from the Movember Institute of Men’s Health, available at https://ex.movember.com/movember-institute/masculinities-report 

References
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2. Sugiura L. The emergence and development of the manosphere. In: The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women (Emerald Studies In Digital Crime, Technology and Social Harms). Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited; 2021:15-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-254-420211004

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5. Reset Australia; Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).Algorithms as a weapon against women: how YouTube lures boys and young men into the ‘Manosphere.’ https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Algorithms-as-a-weapon-against-women-ISD-RESET.pdf. Published April 2022. Accessed June 18, 2025.

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8. Baker C, Ging D, Brandt Andreasen M; DCU Anti-Bullying Centre Dublin City University. Recommending toxicity: the role of algorithmic recommender functions on YouTube Shorts and TikTok in promoting male supremacist influencers. https://antibullyingcentre.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DCU-Toxicity-Full-Report.pdf. Published April 2024. Accessed June 18, 2025.

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