Managing the new manosphere

There is good reason to be concerned about the trajectory some young men find themselves on in a world they feel is being stacked against them. Some women who have spent a lifetime up against the patriarchy might feel a sense of schadenfreude about that. But neither moral panic nor secret delight will ever be a substitute for properly taking stock to examine the collateral damage of societal change. The Wall Street Journal caused a stir in February with an article that argued the “persecuted white male” was a furphy and a rallying cry that had been heard every decade or so for more than 50 years. It cited comments by podcaster Joe Rogan that “it will eventually get to straight white men are not allowed to talk … or not allowed to go outside”. To a point.

The transgender sports and changing rooms debate has been a lesson in how a progressive rights-based agenda can have unintended and wide-ranging consequences of substance. It took years, but speaking up for the rights of women was validated in the British courts. A more complex and potentially more disruptive change is happening when it comes to the experience and behaviour of many adolescent boys and young men. Two reports have put a spotlight on changing attitudes and behaviour among young men and the possible role of social media. Analysis of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey has found a sharp change in attitudes among Gen Z men (born 1997-2012). In 2023, on average, men aged 15-24 had higher belief in traditional gender norms than men aged 25-34 and 35-44. At the same time, women of the same age are less traditional.

Meanwhile, debate is raging about what role social media influencers in the so-called “manosphere” are having in shaping changes in behaviour in men who feel they are being left behind. According to new research, almost seven in 10 Australian men aged 16-25 are regularly engaging with masculinity influencers shifting their health behaviours and moulding their views on traditional gender roles. The Movember Institute of Men’s Health gathered responses from more than 3000 men aged 16-25 in Australia, Britain and the US, and found 63 per cent regularly engaged with at least one masculinity influencer online. In Australia, the proportion was 68 per cent. Those who did were more likely to be more psychologically distressed. In Australia, the young men who follow this content were twice as likely to engage in risky health behaviour, with 23 per cent having taken or considered taking steroids, 22 per cent having used or considered using testosterone injections, and 24 per cent having taken or considered taking diet pills. Along with that, men who followed online influencers were more likely than those who didn’t to believe men should be providers, bosses and the heads of their families; that women had it easier than men; that “women use feminism to keep men down”; and that “women are only interested in men with money or status”.

There will always be problems with these kinds of surveys, including the basic principle that correlation does not prove causation. Also problematic is deciding what exactly constitutes the manosphere and who should be included in it. Nowadays, the hugely popular Joe Rogan is considered to be more pioneer than cutting-edge. Jordan Petersen is claimed as a manosphere intellectual though many would disagree he is always a disruptive negative force. Unlike Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist who is accused of rape and human trafficking in Romania and sexual assault in Britain. He has denied the charges.

But manosphere podcasting is a boom business. And there is no doubt the social media habits as well as attitudes and behaviour of an increasing number of young men are of rising concern across the community. It is equally valid to examine to what extent young men are being shamed into aberrant behaviour by an aggressive pro-rights agenda that demonises masculinity. The online “femosphere” has its own brand of intolerance, to be sure.

Young women are being coached to aggressively claim their rights, and that is a good thing. But the evidence is if young men are shamed into silence, they will seek out somewhere to be heard. The challenge is to have the debate in public and make sure that young men are getting the message that it is OK to speak up, and both sides must be prepared to listen.