FEMINIST MEDIA STUDIES
Erasmus School of History, Culture, and Communication, department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
ABSTRACT
The manosphere is a detached set of websites and social media groups united by the belief that men are oppressed victims of feminism. Even though the manosphere has existed since the early 2000s, its activities have been arguably influenced and increased by the perceived need for counterbalancing the growth of online feminist discourses, such as those conveyed by #MeToo. By applying the theoretical lens of networked misogyny, this article explores the following research question: How is the #MeToo debate framed and discussed in the manosphere? The question is addressed through a qualitative thematic analysis of 12 articles and 641 comments about #MeToo written on the websites Return of Kings and A Voice for Men, which are part of the groups Pick-Up Artists and Men’s Right Movement, respectively. The analysis highlights some dominant themes: first, criticism and verbal abuse against women; second, dismissal of rape and description of #MeToo as a feminist conspiracy; third, perceived victimization of men and a desire to reestablish patriarchal values. This suggests that the manosphere is not a homogeneous network but a cluster of misogynist networks characterized by different viewpoints and degrees of violence, and entangled with racist, homophobic, and far-right ideologies.
Introduction
The creation and circulation of online misogynist narratives can have dreadful consequences. For example, in 2014 Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen by running amok in an attempt to “punish” women for rejecting him (Adam Nagourney, Adam Nagourney, et al. 2014). The intense social media use of Rodger, and his participation in anti-feminist online groups, shed light on the negative potential of the Internet to spread misogynist ideologies. Hence, the combination of gamer culture and geek communities with hypermasculinity may lead to toxic instances of anti-women harassment (Anastasia Salter and Bridget Blodgett 2012). These misogynistic narratives are connected to the socalled “manosphere,” a detached set of websites and social media groups united by the belief that men are oppressed victims of feminism (Tracie Farrell, Tracie Farrell, et al. 2019).
Even though the manosphere has existed since the early 2000s, its activities have been arguably influenced, shaped, and increased by the perceived need for counterbalancing the growth of online feminist discourses (Sarah Banet-Weiser 2018). In 2017, the hashtag #MeToo (invented in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke) gained social media attention, after actress Alyssa Milano encouraged women to share their experiences of sexual assault and harassment on Twitter (Rosemary Clark-Parsons 2019). Online activism is one of the characteristics of the fourth wave of feminism, which focuses on the need of achieving gender equality in an individualistic and often business-driven society. The increasing popularity of #MeToo-related narratives also attracted backlashes, including the aggressive anti-feminist discourses that characterize the manosphere.
In trying to counteract women’s activism, the manosphere can produce narratives and actions that are harmful to society at large. Aside from cases of physical violence such as the aforementioned attack perpetuated by Rodger, the manosphere is also connected to neo-Nazi, alt-right, and white supremacist groups, and often includes Islamophobic and racist ideologies (Giles Fraser 2016). However, despite its detrimental consequences, the manosphere is understudied in academic literature, especially when it concerns activities and narratives against feminist activism (Michael Waltman and John Haas 2010). Therefore, the present article explores the following question: RQ: How is the #MeToo debate framed and discussed in the manosphere?
To address this question, we focus on two US-based online groups in the manosphere: Return of Kings (hereinafter ROK) and A Voice for Men (AVfM). They are blog-type websites regularly updated with articles from different authors, all including a comment section. While there is no indication of the number of visitors these websites attract, they have been identified by The Southern Poverty Law Center Hatewatch list among the first misogynistic websites (“Male Supremacy” n.d.).
Being that the manosphere is often considered as a network, we would argue that it is opportune to analyze and compare two groups because they may hold different characteristics and various degrees of hostility and verbal violence. For instance, ROK, founded in 2012 by Daryush Valizadeh, known as Roosh V, explicitly blames women for allegedly “oppressing” men. Different from ROK, AVfM, founded in 2009 by Paul Elam, portrays itself as a website aiming to provide education and support for men. To explore the narratives that these two groups perpetuate, we will employ the theoretical lens of networked misogyny (Sarah Banet-Weiser and Kate M. Miltner 2016), discussed through a survey of previous literature in the first section of this article.
We approach the manosphere by means of a thematic analysis of 12 articles and 641 comments published either by ROK or AVfM between 2017 and 2019 and mentioning #MeToo, as explained in the methodology section. This article will then proceed by describing the three predominant topics expressed in these websites: criticism and verbal abuse against women, dismissal of rape and description of #MeToo as a feminist conspiracy, perceived victimization of men and a desire to reestablish patriarchal values. In the conclusion, we will critically assess the notion of networked misogyny, reflecting on the impacts of the manosphere on society at large.
Misogyny, popular feminism, and the internet
The proliferation of online misogynist narratives is connected to sexist and anti-feminist groups acting also in offline venues, who often find a platform on the Internet to spread their narratives. In this section, we will explore the characteristics of misogynist groups in relation to the visibility of feminism, the affordances of the Internet that kindle the proliferation of anti-feminist discourses, and the theoretical framework of networked misogyny.
The manosphere is rooted in misogyny, a term that indicates extreme views against women. Misogyny is deeply embedded in patriarchal norms and social structures of power that create everyday instances of sexism (Kate Manne 2017). To clarify, sexism and misogyny are similar terms but not identical: sexism includes stereotypes against women and sexual objectification, but it is not necessarily violent. Misogyny may employ sexism in an attempt to “punish” women who are not perceived as conforming to patriarchal norms.
Hence, misogyny is ingrained in systems of privilege that tend to target certain women, especially if they are notwhite, not-heterosexual, and not-cisgender (Louise Richardson-Self 2018). While misogyny has arguably existed throughout history as a system of oppression, the creation of men’s groups as an anti-feminist reactionary force dates back only a few decades. Among the most prominent examples of organized misogynist groups is the Men’s Rights Movement (MRM), which started in the 1970s (Michael A. Messner 1998). MRM can be conceptualized as a response to second-wave feminism, as it acknowledged the struggle of women but stressed that men also suffer under the pressure of the patriarchy.
From this perspective, MRM was initially mainly concerned with protecting men’s rights in issues such as child custody in divorce laws (Bethany Coston and Michael Kimmel 2013).
However, the aim of the MRM rapidly shifted to counteract feminism and the alleged threats it poses to masculinity. Moreover, the MRM also started to primarily include white and heterosexual American men who often held anti-multiculturalist stances, and sought to protect white patriarchal culture (Michael Kimmel 2017). This ideology expanded and several other groups that reject feminism from different perspectives started to emerge.
For instance, the “Red Pill philosophy” employs the movie “The Matrix” as a metaphor to claim that only a few men can see the alleged truth that women are not oppressed within society (Shawn P. Van Valkenburgh 2018). Incels are “involuntary celibates,” men who blame women for being rejected, as was the aforementioned case of Rodger (Sylvia Jaki, et al. 2019). Pick-up Artists portray themselves as dating coaches, and in so doing often dehumanize and abuse women, while Men Going Their Own Way choose to reduce their relationships with women to the bare minimum (Alan Grant 2019).
The two websites that are analyzed in this article, ROK and AVfM, represent Pick-Up Artists and MRM, respectively, but, as discussed in the following sections, hold also some characteristics of other groups. These different groups became the emblem of a type of misogyny that acts as a counterforce to feminism: while feminism seeks social change, groups such as the MRM constitute a reactionary force to maintain the patriarchal status quo.
Anti-feminist groups find a fertile terrain in Internet spaces and constitute the so-called manosphere. Generally speaking, the Internet can facilitate the diffusion of hate speech because it is anonymous, allows for transnational connections, and fosters impulsive and fast responses (Alexander Brown 2018).
Furthermore, Internet connections can create antagonistic and emotional relations and facilitate group polarization, due to algorithmic logic and lack of regulations on several platforms (Sarita Yardi and Danah Boyd 2010; Merlyna Lim 2017; Giulia Evolvi 2017). Therefore, extremist groups have been among the early adopters of the Internet to find like-minded people, circumvent censorship, and avoid consequences for spreading verbal violence (Phyllis B. Gerstenfeld, Diana R. Grant and Chau-Pu Chiang 2003).
This includes misogynist groups, which often employ the Internet to reassert male dominance despite their lack of social and economic capital in everyday lives (Debbie Ging and Eugenia Siapera 2018), and who spread homophobic, racist, and violent language (Farrell et al. 2019).
Misogyny is spread online because of the affordances of the Internet, but also as a reaction to the visibility of online feminism. Hence, fourth-wave feminism is conditioned by the possibilities offered by Internet technologies, and it is often connected with self-promotion, business opportunities, and empowering narratives (Sarah BanetWeiser, Rosalind Gill and Catherine Rottenberg 2019).
This creates a type of networked feminism characterized by an heterogeneity of movements and goals, and based on the performance of Internet visibility, as happens with #MeToo (Rosemary ClarkParsons 2019). The diffusion of #MeToo has been explored in its influence on media reporting of sexual harassment and consent (Sophie Hindes and Bianca Fileborn 2020), as well as in relation to feminist conversations in various parts of the world (Lindsey E. Blumell and Dinfin Mulupi 2020; Sharmila Lodhia 2020; Siyuan Yin and Yu Sun 2020). Women increasingly using the Me Too hashtag to denounce men’s behavior provoked the rise of paranoia among certain groups, whose members fear being accused by feminist activists.
Narratives trying to counteract #MeToo often portray men as victims, insisting on the alleged negative impact of feminism on men’s self-esteem and masculinity. As a result, the manosphere intensifies its actions to contrast the perceived threat of online feminism and the need of reasserting masculinity (Jonathan A. Allan 2016).
The term “networked misogyny” is used to describe the proliferation of groups connected to the manosphere, with a focus on its opposition to popular feminism (BanetWeiser et al. 2016). Sarah Banet-Weiser (2018) situates misogynist ideologies within the growing trend of Internet narratives aimed at making women more confident and empowered.
As networked feminism seeks mutual support and creates online connections, networked misogyny similarly tries to create a toxic support system for men to spread sexist narratives in online and offline settings. Drawing from the framework of online misogyny, (Alice E. Marwick and Robyn Caplan 2018) explain how the manosphere is networked in spreading ideologies that criminalize women and feminism. For instance, several misogynist platforms employ “misandry” as a buzzword to accuse feminists of discriminating against men, in discourses whose circulation drastically increased because of the networking potential of social media.
An example of networked misogyny is the narratives surrounding the hashtag #HimToo, which aimed at supporting Brett Kavanaugh during his hearings when accused of sexual harassment by Christine Blasey Ford (Karen Boyle and Chamil Rathnayake 2019). #HimToo shows how networked misogyny, differently from popular feminism, is embedded in patriarchal narratives that have been long normalized within society.
Hence, misogyny does not only exist online and its popularity is not only the result of technological developments but it mirrors pervasive social discourses. While the manosphere might give the impression of only including a few extremists, online sexism needs to be understood as a diffused ideology (BanetWeiser 2018).
Employing the framework of networked misogyny, we would argue that the networked character of the manosphere needs to be considered in its heterogeneity. Exactly as networked feminism is a global phenomenon that includes various feelings and different types of activism, online misogyny involves narratives that may target various social groups, rather than simply being an anti-feminist force. To explore networked misogyny in the manosphere, we focus on two specific websites: ROK and AVfM.
Exploring Networked Misogyny
The manosphere is rooted in misogyny, a term that indicates extreme views against women. Misogyny is deeply embedded in patriarchal norms and social structures of power that create everyday instances of sexism. Linking this to the affordances of the Internet that can kindle the spread of anti-feminist discourses; ‘networked misogyny’ is used to describe the proliferation of groups connected to the manosphere with a focus on its opposition to popular feminism. As networked feminism seeks mutual support and creates online connections, networked misogyny similarly tries to create a toxic support system for men to spread sexist narratives in online and offline settings.
To examine this contention, 12 articles and 614 comments on two popular websites in the manosphere, Return of Kings (ROK) and A Voice for Men (AVfM) provided the data to understand how #MeToo is framed and discussed.
Employing the framework of networked misogyny, the networked character of the manosphere needs to be considered in its heterogeneity. Exactly as networked feminism is a global phenomenon that includes different types of activism, online misogyny may target various social groups, rather than simply being an anti-feminist force.
The websites ROK and AVfM have been explored using qualitative textual analysis which generated six overarching themes, as illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1: categories and themes as created after a thematic analysis of the data
Results and Discussion
Networked misogyny and the description of women
The results suggest that the websites ROK and AVfM discuss similar topics and that their articles predominantly focus on the role of men and women within society, as well as on the criticism of feminism and movements such as #MeToo.
Users often criticise women both for their physical appearance and for their behaviours and ideas. The analysis of posts shows how the discussion of #MeToo is closely connected to a general criticism of women and feminism. Women who are supposedly ‘desirable’ are distinguished from those who are not, often in narratives charged with racist and sexual stereotypes. The desirability then is often made evident by judging women for their physical appearance. In particular, #MeToo is associated with women who are feminists because they are supposedly unattractive, following a common anti-feminist trope. The #MeToo movement is described as a ploy by unattractive women to gain attention and ‘deal with rejection issues’. This categorises feminist women and women who denounce sexual violence as undesirable and frustrated, while at the same time refusing to consider the experience of sexual violence. Together with comments that mock #MeToo activists and shame them for their physical appearance, women are portrayed as intellectually inferior or mentally unstable.
However, this does not necessarily render female actions naïve. It is also implied that women abuse men, and young boys in particular, because they are supposedly not held accountable for their actions. Most women commit ‘evil’ acts, but the legal system allegedly protects them. While these types of comments rarely include references or sources, the two websites, and AVfM in particular, often present women’s paedophilic behaviour and abuse against men as a factual and structural problem. In discussing such issues about #MeToo, these narratives not only ridicule feminism and minimise rape, but change the terms of the conversation: women are perpetrators against men, and men need to protect each other against women. Following this line of reasoning, #MeToo is part of a conspiracy to protect women who commit evil acts, and men are the actual victims of the legal and social system.
Although narratives about the #MeToo movement tend to criticise all women, women of colour are more subject to verbal violence, demonstrating the entanglement of the manosphere with white supremacy. While these two websites’ users are openly racist towards black women, they also belittle white women in so-called Western countries by describing them as aggressive feminists. This may also be because white women in North America and Western Europe create visible online feminist networks, which provoke greater anti-feminist backlashes in the manosphere. Many, indeed, claim that the most desirable women are those who are submissive and not feminist.
Sexual violence and consequences for men
Discussions about #MeToo on ROK and AVfM tend to focus on two main points. First, they dismiss denouncements of sexual violence, minimising or confuting them. Second, they lament the possible negative consequences of the #MeToo movement for men.
The general perception of #MeToo is that women’s stories and accounts are untrustworthy; discussions criticise the visibility of the movement and women’s decisions to share their stories instead of remaining silent. Men denounce the fact that they can also be victims of violence, but their stories are often overlooked. Instead of demanding justice for both male and female victims, users engaging in these discourses claim that women do not have the right to talk until the problem of violence against men is addressed and resolved. These different approaches to sexual violence often lead to descriptions of rape as not harmful.
A common misogynist trope repeatedly found on ROK and AVfM is that of victim-shaming. On the one hand, there is the idea that women who have many partners ‘deserve’ to be raped. On the other hand, users suggest that women enjoy being sexually assaulted if they do not fight back. In some other comments, users claim that the notion of consent is confusing and that women should be blamed if they are not able to clearly say no and stand up for themselves when sexually attacked. Minimising sexual abuse and framing rape as the victim’s fault does not deny that men are sexual predators and perpetrators, but excuses their behaviour as seemingly innocuous. It is interesting to notice how, as described earlier, women are often blamed as abusers of young boys, but sexual violence against women is considered legitimate.
These narratives about sexual abuse and rape lead to a second point on the possible consequences of #MeToo for men. Disregarding that the difficulty of providing hard evidence to prove rape accusations is why many women in the past did not share their experiences, several users point out that #MeToo only emerged recently as a conspiracy to destroy the lives of men. Hence, #MeToo seems to cause a moral panic among men who fear they might suffer consequences.
Describing #MeToo as exaggerating the nature of sexual violence and trying to destroy men’s lives also implies that it is a ploy by women to reject men. In addition, men lament the fact that the visibility of #MeToo complicates their likelihood of approaching women. Nonetheless, they suggest a view of masculinity that refuses to consider the severity of rape allegations and sees #MeToo as primarily damaging to men instead of giving women a voice.
Bringing back patriarchal roles: the portrayal of the “ideal” man
The criticism of women and feminism and the discussion of the consequences of #MeToo for men result in narratives that seek to re-establish a type of hegemonic masculinity that confers social power exclusively to men.
Some claim that feminists not only try to undermine white men, but are also changing power hierarchies within society. Others imply that #MeToo is a ploy to ‘eliminate’ straight white men by depriving them of their privileges. The ‘superiority’ of white men is motivated by their historical achievements, and by the perceived need of maintaining existing power balances and the social status quo.
Both ROK and AVfM, indeed, perpetuate the idea that members of the manosphere need to unite and create a counter-revolution. The manosphere is often described as a network, but these websites’ users lament the inability of men to unite for a common goal, instead of fighting against each other. While the manosphere counteracts online feminism, here it mirrors activist movements and networked feminism in trying to mobilise members and create concrete social change.
Consequently, there is a strong sense of victimisation in describing white straight men as allegedly superior but also under the threat of feminism. This type of victimisation can assume various forms: women’s rejection of sexual advances, allegations of sexual harassment and rape, and the overall ploy to make white men lose their social privileges and power.
Discourses that address practical actions against #MeToo activism point to the role of these websites in potentially fomenting violence and promoting radicalisation, as happened with Rodger’s attempt to ‘punish’ women for being sexually unavailable. The description of masculine and feminine roles and the criticism of female activism show that the manosphere supports a specific view of masculinity, but at the same time hosts heterogeneous narratives about contemporary society.
Online misogyny seems to mirror networked feminism in trying to connect and mobilise members of different groups, for example, by encouraging comments that reinforce and legitimise existing opinions of the members. Besides, both websites present some narratives that resemble those of other groups, such as the incels, in blaming women for rejecting men. Hence, the Internet is used to exchange opinions and create a network of ideas.
However, these ideas are not always coherent. To give an example, opinions on sexual violence span from men who condemn rape to those openly advocating for murder and physical aggression. This suggests that the manosphere is an interconnected spectrum of misogyny that groups different opinions and voices. Therefore, it is important to consider the heterogeneity of the manosphere and not describe it as a confined network. It may be useful to consider it as a cluster of networks where individuals maintain their identities and interact with each other without necessarily agreeing on a common purpose.
At the same time, this cluster includes connections with far-right and white supremacist groups, highlighting an entanglement of different ideologies beyond misogyny. This plethora of overlapping anti-feminist discourses is facilitated by the affordances of the Internet, which allows websites like ROK and AVfM to attract members and give them a voice. However, it is important to consider their potential offline impacts, and their influence on society at large.
Notes on contributors
Valerie Dickel is a trainee in Media Planning and Consulting at mediascale GmbH & Co. KG in Munich, Germany. She received her master’s degree in Media & Business from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her interests lie with the affordances of digital media for social movements and the impact of media and brands on personal identities and public perceptions E-mail: [email protected]
Giulia Evolvi is a lecturer in Media and Communication at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado Boulder and worked at Ruhr University in Germany. Her research interests are religion, media, and gender; digital religion; online hate speech. In 2018, Giulia published the book “Blogging my religion: secular, Muslim, and Catholic media spaces in Europe” with Routledge E-mail: [email protected]
Tags: @Justdone @LeFrenchCel @ @Immolator @UnknownR @Betrayed @Khanivore
“Victims of feminism”: exploring networked misogyny and #MeToo in the manosphere
Valerie Dickel and Giulia EvolviErasmus School of History, Culture, and Communication, department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
ABSTRACT
The manosphere is a detached set of websites and social media groups united by the belief that men are oppressed victims of feminism. Even though the manosphere has existed since the early 2000s, its activities have been arguably influenced and increased by the perceived need for counterbalancing the growth of online feminist discourses, such as those conveyed by #MeToo. By applying the theoretical lens of networked misogyny, this article explores the following research question: How is the #MeToo debate framed and discussed in the manosphere? The question is addressed through a qualitative thematic analysis of 12 articles and 641 comments about #MeToo written on the websites Return of Kings and A Voice for Men, which are part of the groups Pick-Up Artists and Men’s Right Movement, respectively. The analysis highlights some dominant themes: first, criticism and verbal abuse against women; second, dismissal of rape and description of #MeToo as a feminist conspiracy; third, perceived victimization of men and a desire to reestablish patriarchal values. This suggests that the manosphere is not a homogeneous network but a cluster of misogynist networks characterized by different viewpoints and degrees of violence, and entangled with racist, homophobic, and far-right ideologies.
Introduction
The creation and circulation of online misogynist narratives can have dreadful consequences. For example, in 2014 Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen by running amok in an attempt to “punish” women for rejecting him (Adam Nagourney, Adam Nagourney, et al. 2014). The intense social media use of Rodger, and his participation in anti-feminist online groups, shed light on the negative potential of the Internet to spread misogynist ideologies. Hence, the combination of gamer culture and geek communities with hypermasculinity may lead to toxic instances of anti-women harassment (Anastasia Salter and Bridget Blodgett 2012). These misogynistic narratives are connected to the socalled “manosphere,” a detached set of websites and social media groups united by the belief that men are oppressed victims of feminism (Tracie Farrell, Tracie Farrell, et al. 2019).
Even though the manosphere has existed since the early 2000s, its activities have been arguably influenced, shaped, and increased by the perceived need for counterbalancing the growth of online feminist discourses (Sarah Banet-Weiser 2018). In 2017, the hashtag #MeToo (invented in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke) gained social media attention, after actress Alyssa Milano encouraged women to share their experiences of sexual assault and harassment on Twitter (Rosemary Clark-Parsons 2019). Online activism is one of the characteristics of the fourth wave of feminism, which focuses on the need of achieving gender equality in an individualistic and often business-driven society. The increasing popularity of #MeToo-related narratives also attracted backlashes, including the aggressive anti-feminist discourses that characterize the manosphere.
In trying to counteract women’s activism, the manosphere can produce narratives and actions that are harmful to society at large. Aside from cases of physical violence such as the aforementioned attack perpetuated by Rodger, the manosphere is also connected to neo-Nazi, alt-right, and white supremacist groups, and often includes Islamophobic and racist ideologies (Giles Fraser 2016). However, despite its detrimental consequences, the manosphere is understudied in academic literature, especially when it concerns activities and narratives against feminist activism (Michael Waltman and John Haas 2010). Therefore, the present article explores the following question: RQ: How is the #MeToo debate framed and discussed in the manosphere?
To address this question, we focus on two US-based online groups in the manosphere: Return of Kings (hereinafter ROK) and A Voice for Men (AVfM). They are blog-type websites regularly updated with articles from different authors, all including a comment section. While there is no indication of the number of visitors these websites attract, they have been identified by The Southern Poverty Law Center Hatewatch list among the first misogynistic websites (“Male Supremacy” n.d.).
Being that the manosphere is often considered as a network, we would argue that it is opportune to analyze and compare two groups because they may hold different characteristics and various degrees of hostility and verbal violence. For instance, ROK, founded in 2012 by Daryush Valizadeh, known as Roosh V, explicitly blames women for allegedly “oppressing” men. Different from ROK, AVfM, founded in 2009 by Paul Elam, portrays itself as a website aiming to provide education and support for men. To explore the narratives that these two groups perpetuate, we will employ the theoretical lens of networked misogyny (Sarah Banet-Weiser and Kate M. Miltner 2016), discussed through a survey of previous literature in the first section of this article.
We approach the manosphere by means of a thematic analysis of 12 articles and 641 comments published either by ROK or AVfM between 2017 and 2019 and mentioning #MeToo, as explained in the methodology section. This article will then proceed by describing the three predominant topics expressed in these websites: criticism and verbal abuse against women, dismissal of rape and description of #MeToo as a feminist conspiracy, perceived victimization of men and a desire to reestablish patriarchal values. In the conclusion, we will critically assess the notion of networked misogyny, reflecting on the impacts of the manosphere on society at large.
Misogyny, popular feminism, and the internet
The proliferation of online misogynist narratives is connected to sexist and anti-feminist groups acting also in offline venues, who often find a platform on the Internet to spread their narratives. In this section, we will explore the characteristics of misogynist groups in relation to the visibility of feminism, the affordances of the Internet that kindle the proliferation of anti-feminist discourses, and the theoretical framework of networked misogyny.
The manosphere is rooted in misogyny, a term that indicates extreme views against women. Misogyny is deeply embedded in patriarchal norms and social structures of power that create everyday instances of sexism (Kate Manne 2017). To clarify, sexism and misogyny are similar terms but not identical: sexism includes stereotypes against women and sexual objectification, but it is not necessarily violent. Misogyny may employ sexism in an attempt to “punish” women who are not perceived as conforming to patriarchal norms.
Hence, misogyny is ingrained in systems of privilege that tend to target certain women, especially if they are notwhite, not-heterosexual, and not-cisgender (Louise Richardson-Self 2018). While misogyny has arguably existed throughout history as a system of oppression, the creation of men’s groups as an anti-feminist reactionary force dates back only a few decades. Among the most prominent examples of organized misogynist groups is the Men’s Rights Movement (MRM), which started in the 1970s (Michael A. Messner 1998). MRM can be conceptualized as a response to second-wave feminism, as it acknowledged the struggle of women but stressed that men also suffer under the pressure of the patriarchy.
From this perspective, MRM was initially mainly concerned with protecting men’s rights in issues such as child custody in divorce laws (Bethany Coston and Michael Kimmel 2013).
However, the aim of the MRM rapidly shifted to counteract feminism and the alleged threats it poses to masculinity. Moreover, the MRM also started to primarily include white and heterosexual American men who often held anti-multiculturalist stances, and sought to protect white patriarchal culture (Michael Kimmel 2017). This ideology expanded and several other groups that reject feminism from different perspectives started to emerge.
For instance, the “Red Pill philosophy” employs the movie “The Matrix” as a metaphor to claim that only a few men can see the alleged truth that women are not oppressed within society (Shawn P. Van Valkenburgh 2018). Incels are “involuntary celibates,” men who blame women for being rejected, as was the aforementioned case of Rodger (Sylvia Jaki, et al. 2019). Pick-up Artists portray themselves as dating coaches, and in so doing often dehumanize and abuse women, while Men Going Their Own Way choose to reduce their relationships with women to the bare minimum (Alan Grant 2019).
The two websites that are analyzed in this article, ROK and AVfM, represent Pick-Up Artists and MRM, respectively, but, as discussed in the following sections, hold also some characteristics of other groups. These different groups became the emblem of a type of misogyny that acts as a counterforce to feminism: while feminism seeks social change, groups such as the MRM constitute a reactionary force to maintain the patriarchal status quo.
Anti-feminist groups find a fertile terrain in Internet spaces and constitute the so-called manosphere. Generally speaking, the Internet can facilitate the diffusion of hate speech because it is anonymous, allows for transnational connections, and fosters impulsive and fast responses (Alexander Brown 2018).
Furthermore, Internet connections can create antagonistic and emotional relations and facilitate group polarization, due to algorithmic logic and lack of regulations on several platforms (Sarita Yardi and Danah Boyd 2010; Merlyna Lim 2017; Giulia Evolvi 2017). Therefore, extremist groups have been among the early adopters of the Internet to find like-minded people, circumvent censorship, and avoid consequences for spreading verbal violence (Phyllis B. Gerstenfeld, Diana R. Grant and Chau-Pu Chiang 2003).
This includes misogynist groups, which often employ the Internet to reassert male dominance despite their lack of social and economic capital in everyday lives (Debbie Ging and Eugenia Siapera 2018), and who spread homophobic, racist, and violent language (Farrell et al. 2019).
Misogyny is spread online because of the affordances of the Internet, but also as a reaction to the visibility of online feminism. Hence, fourth-wave feminism is conditioned by the possibilities offered by Internet technologies, and it is often connected with self-promotion, business opportunities, and empowering narratives (Sarah BanetWeiser, Rosalind Gill and Catherine Rottenberg 2019).
This creates a type of networked feminism characterized by an heterogeneity of movements and goals, and based on the performance of Internet visibility, as happens with #MeToo (Rosemary ClarkParsons 2019). The diffusion of #MeToo has been explored in its influence on media reporting of sexual harassment and consent (Sophie Hindes and Bianca Fileborn 2020), as well as in relation to feminist conversations in various parts of the world (Lindsey E. Blumell and Dinfin Mulupi 2020; Sharmila Lodhia 2020; Siyuan Yin and Yu Sun 2020). Women increasingly using the Me Too hashtag to denounce men’s behavior provoked the rise of paranoia among certain groups, whose members fear being accused by feminist activists.
Narratives trying to counteract #MeToo often portray men as victims, insisting on the alleged negative impact of feminism on men’s self-esteem and masculinity. As a result, the manosphere intensifies its actions to contrast the perceived threat of online feminism and the need of reasserting masculinity (Jonathan A. Allan 2016).
The term “networked misogyny” is used to describe the proliferation of groups connected to the manosphere, with a focus on its opposition to popular feminism (BanetWeiser et al. 2016). Sarah Banet-Weiser (2018) situates misogynist ideologies within the growing trend of Internet narratives aimed at making women more confident and empowered.
As networked feminism seeks mutual support and creates online connections, networked misogyny similarly tries to create a toxic support system for men to spread sexist narratives in online and offline settings. Drawing from the framework of online misogyny, (Alice E. Marwick and Robyn Caplan 2018) explain how the manosphere is networked in spreading ideologies that criminalize women and feminism. For instance, several misogynist platforms employ “misandry” as a buzzword to accuse feminists of discriminating against men, in discourses whose circulation drastically increased because of the networking potential of social media.
An example of networked misogyny is the narratives surrounding the hashtag #HimToo, which aimed at supporting Brett Kavanaugh during his hearings when accused of sexual harassment by Christine Blasey Ford (Karen Boyle and Chamil Rathnayake 2019). #HimToo shows how networked misogyny, differently from popular feminism, is embedded in patriarchal narratives that have been long normalized within society.
Hence, misogyny does not only exist online and its popularity is not only the result of technological developments but it mirrors pervasive social discourses. While the manosphere might give the impression of only including a few extremists, online sexism needs to be understood as a diffused ideology (BanetWeiser 2018).
Employing the framework of networked misogyny, we would argue that the networked character of the manosphere needs to be considered in its heterogeneity. Exactly as networked feminism is a global phenomenon that includes various feelings and different types of activism, online misogyny involves narratives that may target various social groups, rather than simply being an anti-feminist force. To explore networked misogyny in the manosphere, we focus on two specific websites: ROK and AVfM.
Exploring Networked Misogyny
The manosphere is rooted in misogyny, a term that indicates extreme views against women. Misogyny is deeply embedded in patriarchal norms and social structures of power that create everyday instances of sexism. Linking this to the affordances of the Internet that can kindle the spread of anti-feminist discourses; ‘networked misogyny’ is used to describe the proliferation of groups connected to the manosphere with a focus on its opposition to popular feminism. As networked feminism seeks mutual support and creates online connections, networked misogyny similarly tries to create a toxic support system for men to spread sexist narratives in online and offline settings.
To examine this contention, 12 articles and 614 comments on two popular websites in the manosphere, Return of Kings (ROK) and A Voice for Men (AVfM) provided the data to understand how #MeToo is framed and discussed.
Employing the framework of networked misogyny, the networked character of the manosphere needs to be considered in its heterogeneity. Exactly as networked feminism is a global phenomenon that includes different types of activism, online misogyny may target various social groups, rather than simply being an anti-feminist force.
The websites ROK and AVfM have been explored using qualitative textual analysis which generated six overarching themes, as illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1: categories and themes as created after a thematic analysis of the data
| Themes | Categories | |
| Networked misogyny and the description of women | Portrayal of women | Nature of women Appearance of women |
| Rational examination of #MeToo | Balanced perspective Explanations for abuse | |
| Sexual violence and consequences for men | Cultural impact of #MeToo | Cultural differences Minorities benefit from #MeToo Hollywood |
| Feminist propaganda | Credibility of accusations Legal system Double standard Effects of feminism Media Superficiality of #MeToo Power struggle Political agenda Conspiracy theories Changes over time | |
| Bringing back patriarchal roles: the portrayal of the “ideal” man | Reestablishing the patriarchy | End the oppression Coping Protective measures Justifications for misogyny Intolerance |
| Role of men | Exclusion of men Men as victims of feminism Male supporters Differences between men Self-reflection |
Results and Discussion
Networked misogyny and the description of women
The results suggest that the websites ROK and AVfM discuss similar topics and that their articles predominantly focus on the role of men and women within society, as well as on the criticism of feminism and movements such as #MeToo.
Users often criticise women both for their physical appearance and for their behaviours and ideas. The analysis of posts shows how the discussion of #MeToo is closely connected to a general criticism of women and feminism. Women who are supposedly ‘desirable’ are distinguished from those who are not, often in narratives charged with racist and sexual stereotypes. The desirability then is often made evident by judging women for their physical appearance. In particular, #MeToo is associated with women who are feminists because they are supposedly unattractive, following a common anti-feminist trope. The #MeToo movement is described as a ploy by unattractive women to gain attention and ‘deal with rejection issues’. This categorises feminist women and women who denounce sexual violence as undesirable and frustrated, while at the same time refusing to consider the experience of sexual violence. Together with comments that mock #MeToo activists and shame them for their physical appearance, women are portrayed as intellectually inferior or mentally unstable.
However, this does not necessarily render female actions naïve. It is also implied that women abuse men, and young boys in particular, because they are supposedly not held accountable for their actions. Most women commit ‘evil’ acts, but the legal system allegedly protects them. While these types of comments rarely include references or sources, the two websites, and AVfM in particular, often present women’s paedophilic behaviour and abuse against men as a factual and structural problem. In discussing such issues about #MeToo, these narratives not only ridicule feminism and minimise rape, but change the terms of the conversation: women are perpetrators against men, and men need to protect each other against women. Following this line of reasoning, #MeToo is part of a conspiracy to protect women who commit evil acts, and men are the actual victims of the legal and social system.
Although narratives about the #MeToo movement tend to criticise all women, women of colour are more subject to verbal violence, demonstrating the entanglement of the manosphere with white supremacy. While these two websites’ users are openly racist towards black women, they also belittle white women in so-called Western countries by describing them as aggressive feminists. This may also be because white women in North America and Western Europe create visible online feminist networks, which provoke greater anti-feminist backlashes in the manosphere. Many, indeed, claim that the most desirable women are those who are submissive and not feminist.
Sexual violence and consequences for men
Discussions about #MeToo on ROK and AVfM tend to focus on two main points. First, they dismiss denouncements of sexual violence, minimising or confuting them. Second, they lament the possible negative consequences of the #MeToo movement for men.
The general perception of #MeToo is that women’s stories and accounts are untrustworthy; discussions criticise the visibility of the movement and women’s decisions to share their stories instead of remaining silent. Men denounce the fact that they can also be victims of violence, but their stories are often overlooked. Instead of demanding justice for both male and female victims, users engaging in these discourses claim that women do not have the right to talk until the problem of violence against men is addressed and resolved. These different approaches to sexual violence often lead to descriptions of rape as not harmful.
A common misogynist trope repeatedly found on ROK and AVfM is that of victim-shaming. On the one hand, there is the idea that women who have many partners ‘deserve’ to be raped. On the other hand, users suggest that women enjoy being sexually assaulted if they do not fight back. In some other comments, users claim that the notion of consent is confusing and that women should be blamed if they are not able to clearly say no and stand up for themselves when sexually attacked. Minimising sexual abuse and framing rape as the victim’s fault does not deny that men are sexual predators and perpetrators, but excuses their behaviour as seemingly innocuous. It is interesting to notice how, as described earlier, women are often blamed as abusers of young boys, but sexual violence against women is considered legitimate.
These narratives about sexual abuse and rape lead to a second point on the possible consequences of #MeToo for men. Disregarding that the difficulty of providing hard evidence to prove rape accusations is why many women in the past did not share their experiences, several users point out that #MeToo only emerged recently as a conspiracy to destroy the lives of men. Hence, #MeToo seems to cause a moral panic among men who fear they might suffer consequences.
Describing #MeToo as exaggerating the nature of sexual violence and trying to destroy men’s lives also implies that it is a ploy by women to reject men. In addition, men lament the fact that the visibility of #MeToo complicates their likelihood of approaching women. Nonetheless, they suggest a view of masculinity that refuses to consider the severity of rape allegations and sees #MeToo as primarily damaging to men instead of giving women a voice.
Bringing back patriarchal roles: the portrayal of the “ideal” man
The criticism of women and feminism and the discussion of the consequences of #MeToo for men result in narratives that seek to re-establish a type of hegemonic masculinity that confers social power exclusively to men.
Some claim that feminists not only try to undermine white men, but are also changing power hierarchies within society. Others imply that #MeToo is a ploy to ‘eliminate’ straight white men by depriving them of their privileges. The ‘superiority’ of white men is motivated by their historical achievements, and by the perceived need of maintaining existing power balances and the social status quo.
Both ROK and AVfM, indeed, perpetuate the idea that members of the manosphere need to unite and create a counter-revolution. The manosphere is often described as a network, but these websites’ users lament the inability of men to unite for a common goal, instead of fighting against each other. While the manosphere counteracts online feminism, here it mirrors activist movements and networked feminism in trying to mobilise members and create concrete social change.
Consequently, there is a strong sense of victimisation in describing white straight men as allegedly superior but also under the threat of feminism. This type of victimisation can assume various forms: women’s rejection of sexual advances, allegations of sexual harassment and rape, and the overall ploy to make white men lose their social privileges and power.
Discourses that address practical actions against #MeToo activism point to the role of these websites in potentially fomenting violence and promoting radicalisation, as happened with Rodger’s attempt to ‘punish’ women for being sexually unavailable. The description of masculine and feminine roles and the criticism of female activism show that the manosphere supports a specific view of masculinity, but at the same time hosts heterogeneous narratives about contemporary society.
Online misogyny seems to mirror networked feminism in trying to connect and mobilise members of different groups, for example, by encouraging comments that reinforce and legitimise existing opinions of the members. Besides, both websites present some narratives that resemble those of other groups, such as the incels, in blaming women for rejecting men. Hence, the Internet is used to exchange opinions and create a network of ideas.
However, these ideas are not always coherent. To give an example, opinions on sexual violence span from men who condemn rape to those openly advocating for murder and physical aggression. This suggests that the manosphere is an interconnected spectrum of misogyny that groups different opinions and voices. Therefore, it is important to consider the heterogeneity of the manosphere and not describe it as a confined network. It may be useful to consider it as a cluster of networks where individuals maintain their identities and interact with each other without necessarily agreeing on a common purpose.
At the same time, this cluster includes connections with far-right and white supremacist groups, highlighting an entanglement of different ideologies beyond misogyny. This plethora of overlapping anti-feminist discourses is facilitated by the affordances of the Internet, which allows websites like ROK and AVfM to attract members and give them a voice. However, it is important to consider their potential offline impacts, and their influence on society at large.
Notes on contributors
Valerie Dickel is a trainee in Media Planning and Consulting at mediascale GmbH & Co. KG in Munich, Germany. She received her master’s degree in Media & Business from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her interests lie with the affordances of digital media for social movements and the impact of media and brands on personal identities and public perceptions E-mail: [email protected]
Giulia Evolvi is a lecturer in Media and Communication at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado Boulder and worked at Ruhr University in Germany. Her research interests are religion, media, and gender; digital religion; online hate speech. In 2018, Giulia published the book “Blogging my religion: secular, Muslim, and Catholic media spaces in Europe” with Routledge E-mail: [email protected]
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