Manspreading the Manosphere

The crowd in the bubble

Photo: Tim Mossholder

How big can the manosphere inflate before it bursts? I dunno. What is clear: the manfluencer bubble increasingly encompasses the political field. Public awareness of this bro space is recent. But the manosphere’s internet precincts have harbored incels, the extremely online, and denizens of the Nazi bar for many years.

I delved (unenthusiastically) into this online subculture last January when “manfluencers” was a niche topic. But now, the ascendency of JD Vance in the Trumpian line of succession has pushed male supremacist ideology center stage. Trump rallies and Vance appearances feature ever more extreme pro-natalist, anti-feminist rhetoric. Vance is Trump’s ideal VP, having served his MAGA apprenticeship denigrating women and minorities on right-wing podcasts and shit-posting on social media. Indeed, JD Vance is a well-known “manosphere guy.”

For those blissfully ignorant of the manosphere—I’m so sorry to disturb your peaceful mind. Let me break it to you gently.

The manosphere is an online space with a specific ethos encompassing

a collection of websites, podcasts and other online forums. They’re not technically connected, but they do share a common ideology: Women are either too self-centered or too dumb to make important decisions on their own.

Engagement in the wholesale dehumanization of women links disparate groups of incels, pronatalists, and (yes) neo-Nazis. One way to strip women of their humanity and individuality is by casting women into different “types.” For example:

Notice how women are reduced to a set of characteristics promoting a fantasy stereotype: The Becky, The Stacy.

The template for misogyny has been elaborated, amplified, and disseminated through American right-wing media, such as talk radio (Rush Limbaugh), Fox News (Glen Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Tucker Carlson), podcasts (Ben Shapiro), and YouTube (Joe Rogan). The vile discharge has gotten thicker, the atmosphere darker, and the threats to women more direct. The manosphere has expanded beyond our national borders by “flooding the zone with shit.”

The youth are listening—and “following” the worst people. Although indicted for sex crimes and fraud, manosphere influencer Andrew Tate continues to gain international popularity. Teenage boys in Australia found his pitch so attractive that they emulated his behavior. This led to “a disturbing pattern of sustained sexual harassment, sexism and misogyny perpetrated by boys, signaling a worrying shift in gender dynamics within school environments,” according to Monash University researchers.

Female teachers are quitting in droves because of the daily harassment. Grace, a high school teacher, said that a handful of Andrew Tate stans in her classroom were enough to derail the class. The interruptions were of a sexual nature:

Students were making moaning noises in my classes, asking me inappropriate questions, asking personal questions about my age or my appearance.

Australian journalists interviewed Tate supporters to understand the British-American kickboxer’s popularity. Twenty-five-year-old Ethan Slater agreed that part of the attraction was the promotion of a version of masculinity his friends appreciated. . .

‘[Andrew Tate] resonates with younger men because that’s sort of what they aspire to be. It's big money, big goals, big dreams, and they want to achieve that themselves.’

Slater believes much of what's been reported about Mr. Tate’s views on men and women has been taken out of context.

‘So, he says men are superior to women. What he means is like, you know, men should dominate the relationship and help the woman to aspire to what she wants to be,’ he said.

But here’s how the Australian federal government is different from certain US state governments. The Aussies allocated $3.5 million for a Healthy Masculinities project to address misogynistic misbehavior; by contrast, many US states turn a blind eye to sexual harassment and blame the victims, complaining about “wokeness,” DEI, CRT, etc.

And here we are. Militant extremism—advocating racial violence, violence against women, LGBTQ restrictions, has expanded. Hate-filled rhetoric has migrated from the social fringe to the political fringe, to the mouths of Republican congressmen, and now into the general discourse. It’s nasty.

The funny thing is . . . the manosphere began as a benign marketing gambit.

This is how it started . . . .

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“Manfluencer” is a neologism but not a recent one. Unaware of its origins in market research, I assumed it had something to do with hegemonic masculinity and distasteful characters like Andrew Tate. But it turns out that manfluencers started with . . . groceries.

Marketers conducted focus groups with men who had been unemployed due to the 2007-2008 recession. The recession greatly impacted employment in male-dominated industries like finance, construction, and manufacturing. Women were less affected because more of them were employed in service industries. Because of the disparity in job loss rates between men and women, University of Michigan economist Mark Perry cutely labeled the economic collapse a “mancession.”

Through focus groups and surveys, market researchers found that more men were grocery shopping and preparing family meals than previously. Sniffing out the trend-setting potential in this unremarkable finding, advertising account execs wasted no time. They jumped to a conclusion and launched a campaign.

Robbed of their economic potency, men were transforming themselves from chest-waxing metrosexuals into helpmates.

Right. How many “chest-waxing metrosexuals” did you know in 2007? Did these chest-waxing hunks work in construction and respond to the Great Mancession by grocery shopping? Please.

Midan conducted a survey showing 47% of men in the US shopped for groceries and reported cooking for their families. Murphy called this group “Manfluencers™” to highlight “men’s newfound power over purchasing decisions.”

Did this represent a higher level of social awareness? A recognition that both men and women can contribute in the home, that the “breadwinner” role can be shared? Advertisers thought so.

By 2020, the top female brand influencers were making good money on TikTok and Instagram. It didn’t take long for the guys to move in.

Philip Bradford, a DIY hobbyist, was an early Instagrammer with a website called Phillip_or_flop. Dr. Bradford—he’s a PhD in chemical engineering—was promoted by Parker Talent Management (PTM), as “a lead male influencer in the digital media space” with 200,000 Instagram subscribers.

PTM’s “Influencer Spotlight” features a Q&A with Bradford: On Becoming a Manfluencer in a Predominantly Female Industry

I think that being one of the only large male influencers in the home/DIY space makes me pretty memorable. I think it does help drive some story views as well; I am different than what they see when they flip to the next person. In general I am just a contrast to what they’re seeing on a daily basis.

There are plenty of female DIYers that are just as skilled as me and I love being the odd man out in the group. . . I am only where I am today because of the extremely talented women behind @Frills_and_drills and @Angelarosehome (both on the Parker Talent Management roster). Lindsay, Angela and I have spent so much time analyzing and swapping notes on what kind of content the DIY loving community wants to see, and how to use the Instagram platform to its full potential. . . .

“Manfluencer,” in 2020, was still a soft label, with a hint of gender equality. Bradford acknowledged his debt to the female influencers in the DIY field and described collaborating with them. Engagement and reach—influencing eyeballs and purchases—was the name of the game.

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The manosphere is still in the business of attracting eyeballs, selling misogyny merch, and raking in the cash. But today’s manfluencers reject gender equality; they’re hardcore supremacists.

Everyone’s heard JD’s disparagement of “childless cat ladies” and the Ohio congressional candidate who said older women shouldn’t care about abortion. But ignorant remarks can be ignored. The real problem is the extremist bubble where male supremacy, white supremacy, illiberal and anti-semitic prejudices circulate; where the hate-mongers egg each other on, giving rise to every higher swells of intolerance and menace. Too harsh?

JD Vance created a TikTok account and uploaded his first video last August. Who did it feature? The Nelk Boys, far-right influencers whose channels host anti-LGBTQ+ rants and complaints about women by manosphere celebrities Andrew Tate, Elon Musk, and Tucker Carlson.

That’s the social ecosphere whence come Vance and Trump.

And now, inspiration from . . . the legendary Stevie Nicks!

Related Grounded articles:

Manfluencers (January 2, 2024)

Ladies, Be Reasonable (January 9, 2024)

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Notes:

David Gilbert, The Trump Campaign’s Rhetoric About Women Sounds a Lot Like Andrew Tate’s.

Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Explainer: The Manosphere.

Ja’han Jones, JD Vance’s attacks against women shed light on the ‘manosphere’.

Maya Mehrara, JD Vance's First TikTok Features Andrew Tate Collaborators.

Monash University, Research explores impact of 'manfluencer' culture on Australian schools.

Steven Roberts and Stephanie Wescott, Tackling ‘toxic masculinity’ in Australia: We can’t afford to get this wrong.

Areeba Shah, Andrew Tate charged with human trafficking and continues to gain followers.