Misogynistic memes, violent tweets and male-centered chat rooms: the hyper-masculine online phenomenon that has created the “manosphere” is on the rise. More and more young boys and men have been swept into a culture that demeans women through asserting male dominance — and it’s having a real-world impact. 

It’s no secret that men have power in patriarchal Western society. That power, however, is weakening, or at least it doesn’t look the same as it used to. Women are seen to have made more progress than men in college admissions, workforce leadership and access to high-paying jobs over the past 20 years.

Despite this, only 43% of Gen Z men would describe themselves as “feminist” compared to 61% of Gen Z women, the most pronounced gender gap among all other generations. Alternatively, almost half of men reported feeling discriminated against in 2023, a jump from less than one-third in 2019. 

Rather than being viewed as uplifting women, the idea of feminism has been distorted to mean specifically putting down men.

And young men do feel put down. They are struggling with school, addiction, mental illness and incarceration. 

Women, on the other hand, are growing and flourishing academically and in the workforce more than they have in past decades. 

There are questions about what masculinity even looks like nowadays. “Toxic masculinity” has been argued to be a harmful phrase, alienating young men from their natural masculinity and shaming them for it.

The manosphere has been borne of a generation of insecure, lonely and confused young men — and has taken a path of violence. 

Netflix’s recently released limited series, Adolescence, has explored exactly this, bringing the manosphere more into the public eye and receiving a buzz for it. 

In the series, a 13-year-old boy arrested for murdering a female classmate is later revealed to have been involved with manosphere ideology online.

This story isn’t just fiction; it’s increasingly familiar. 

Incidents of violence caused by young men identifying with manosphere ideology are growing more common. 

The main victims? Women. 

Shootings and homicides are carried out by manosphere-submerged men, and Canada has even gone as far as to label this violence as a form of terrorism. 

It’s nowhere near surprising that violence and abuse have arisen from the manosphere. Oftentimes, the manosphere itself champions abuse.

Popular manosphere influencer Andrew Tate, for example, thinks of his verbal and physical attacks against women as natural and normal. The self-proclaimed misogynist has exclaimed, “There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.” 

Due to Tate’s influence, this “reality” seems normal to a lot of young men. And, of course, as men are the most important center of that reality, women pay the price.

What’s unfortunate is that not every young man in the manosphere started out as a raging sexist; it’s the manosphere algorithm that made them that way. 

Young men are frustrated and understandably so. Society is changing, and they are working to fit into new social expectations. But amidst the feeling of being lost, they search for the cause – the perceived root – of their frustration. 

The manosphere narrative points to women. Women have focused on themselves. Women have ignored you sexually. Women have taken power from you. After all, it’s not your fault that you’re celibate; she just didn’t want to go home with you. Even further, it’s up to you to be firm in your dominance. 

The “matrix” the manosphere is so adamant about is a world in which accountability and decency are expected. Being aware of society beyond yourself shifts your perspective for sure, but I’d argue for the better.

You can’t be so blinded by your own insecurity that looking past your own nose is completely world-shattering. 

Quite frankly, although young men should be responsible for their actions, we haven’t done a lot to help them, either. Men’s mental health is often overlooked, and vulnerability is something masculinity in our culture struggles with. We must talk about this. 

This is a far-reaching epidemic of a lack of empathy, respect and vulnerability that is driven by never-ending algorithmic streams of misogynistic content, grabbing ahold of boys in their formative years. The manosphere has reached boys as young as elementary school; teachers are reporting increased rates of sexism and disrespect towards female classmates and teachers. 

Allowing our boys and young men to be immersed in misogyny not only harms their female counterparts but themselves, too. 

Holding on to emotionally confused bitterness results in violent outbursts towards women and a weighted, self-hating burden that these men have to carry. It benefits absolutely no one. 

If we want to prevent violence, resentment and emotional disconnect, we must radically reshape the way we engage with and raise boys and young men. The manosphere thrives where support is inadequate or absent and where masculinity is defined by power and dominance — not by character and empathy.

Dominance doesn’t make a man whole; it only tries to fill a chasm of emptiness carved by loneliness and fear. If we want to change the narrative, we have to meet boys where they are — before the manosphere does.