Critical Perspective Brief: Digital Hate, Real-World Consequences: The Manosphere’s Threat to Public Safety and Policing

Critical Perspective Brief: Digital Hate, Real-World Consequences: The Manosphere’s Threat to Public Safety and Policing

This Critical Perspectives Brief focuses on the changing attitudes of some young men/males – with an increasing number of young men expressing less progressive views on gender and sexuality than their Gen X counterparts. Some of these young men have found a community based on a loose collection of online networks, commonly referred to as the ‘manosphere’. Manosphere participation can serve to amplify several dangerous trends and activities that require police attention or add complexities to the policing landscape in Australia and New Zealand.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey, in 2021–22 one in six women compared to one in 18 men had experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15. One in four women and one in seven men had experienced emotional abuse and one in six women compared to one in 13 men had experienced economic abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15. Furthermore, one in five women compared to one in 16 men had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. In the extremism space, at least 15 violent incidents in western countries between 2009 and 2022 - resulting in 58 deaths - included hostile misogyny as part of the perpetrator’s motivating ideology. Given the impact and implication of these statistics on community safety, it is critical for police to better understand some of the factors that may underpin these criminal behaviours.   

The changing attitudes of some young men/males – generally (but not exclusively) within the Millennial and Gen Z demographic – is of particular concern, with an increasing number of young men expressing less progressive views on gender and sexuality than their Gen X counterparts. Some of these young men have found a community based on a loose collection of online networks, commonly referred to as the ‘manosphere’. Despite differences within the manosphere, there is a common adherence to The Red Pill ideology, a collection of antifeminist beliefs supporting male supremacy, and often hostile misogyny.

Engagement with the manosphere can increase social tensions along gender lines, resulting in antisocial, aggressive and potentially criminal behaviour. This brief will explore and outline what is driving engagement with the manosphere and some of the potential behavioural outcomes that can be consequential for police.

Driving engagement

In part, male participation in the manosphere is driven by feelings of disenfranchisement and alienation. A tranche of data illustrates this growing phenomenon. In the United States, men are rapidly falling behind in education engagement and outcomes, rates of young male economic inactivity have risen considerably over the past two decades, and the level of intimate relationships reported by young men also appear to be in decline. Many of these trends are mirrored in the Australian and New Zealand context. In Australia, this can be seen in a reported loneliness crisis experienced by young people in general, and by men most acutely. A 2023 report noted that in 2022, almost one in seven (15%) Australians were experiencing social isolation, with the proportion of young men experiencing loneliness having increased while the proportion of young women experiencing social isolation decreased. Suicide rates have risen significantly in Australian men in recent years, with 2023 seeing 2,419 deaths of despair compared to 795 for Australian women. In New Zealand, in 2023–24, the rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for males was 15.9 per 100,000 males, and the rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for females was 6.4 per 100,000 females.
These data points indicate a feeling of vulnerability and alienation experienced more acutely by young men. Such a sense of alienation can help explain the appeal of the manosphere as it speaks to the perceived experience of young men under the above conditions. What’s more, as these data points of male vulnerability become more stark, we can expect to see further engagement with the manosphere and its consequential misogyny. 

The diagnosis

While the views and opinions expressed within the manosphere are diverse, there are vocal voices within this community that provide a prognosis of backlash against, if not outright hostility towards, feminism more specifically and women more generally. Women are essentialised as different and inferior to men, there is a championing of patriarchal values, a promotion of heteronormative ideals, and at the most extreme there is a legitimation of control over, and violence against, women.

Consequences

Not only does engagement with the manosphere impact progress towards gender equity, it can also simultaneously result in serious, and sometimes violent, behaviour. What has been shown is that there is a clear, but narrow and prolonged, pathway from engagement with online misogynist communities and offline extremist violence. The end result is that, by weaponising the feelings of male alienation, a dynamic often linked to the radicalisation process, and by promoting and justifying violence against women, the manosphere can facilitate and support violent action. This danger is further compounded by social media algorithms, which have been shown to encourage the adoption of ideologies through repeated exposure and which have proven difficult, if not impossible, to effectively monitor and moderate.

The most noticeable expression of this is Elliot Rodger who, in 2014 in the US, killed six people and wounded a further 14. Rodger was firmly rooted in incel ideology and the online incel community. Since the attack, Rodger has become a venerated figure within this fringe community who believe his actions should not only be applauded but should additionally be echoed and ideally surpassed. Since then, hostile misogyny has been linked to a number of violent incidents, perhaps most recently the 2024 Bondi stabbings that killed six people, five of them women. 

It is evident that hostile misogyny can play a part in the radicalisation story of violent extremism. This is not to say that every individual who engages with this online community is at danger of radicalisation, but simply that as engagement with the manosphere has increased, and should it continue to do so, the number of those at risk of radicalisation simultaneously increases. 

Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence and hostility against women in the more general sense 

While violent individuals such as Elliot Rodger might not constitute the majority of these websites’ users, the diffusion and adoption of misogynist discourses can still have an impact on broader society.

The spread of manosphere beliefs about men being victims of unfair gender power dynamics, women as naturally inferior, and justifying misogynistic behaviour can have a noticeable impact on society. As a direct consequence of manosphere engagement we have seen a resurgence of male supremacy theories and the advancement of masculinist hegemony in Australian schools and universities. Moreover, it has been shown that those who have engaged with the manosphere exhibited stereotypically gendered ideas about the role of women as wives and mothers with little personal, financial, or sexual autonomy and simultaneously have attempted to control the careers, social lives, and finances of their partners. If this translates to increasingly coercive behaviour against women, the impacts of Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (FDSV) on police resources will be further exacerbated.

The manosphere has been able to justify and legitimise behaviour that we would associate with dynamics such as sexual manipulation, emotional detachment, or coercive control under the guise of male empowerment. This in turn can result and eventuate in increasing numbers of abusive relationship dynamics, and potentially higher levels of FDSV, particularly as this behaviour and attitudes have been exhibited among younger individuals. FDSV is already a key concern within Australia and New Zealand, and a dynamic that already requires significant policing attention and intervention, and can negatively impact police responders and cause wider societal harm. If this translates to increasingly coercive behaviour against women, the impact on police resources will be further exacerbated, particularly as jurisdictions across Australia and New Zealand amend family/domestic violence laws to criminalise control and coercion, while also having adverse effects on police wellbeing.

Conclusion

Although the manosphere as a loose collection of ideologies and online communities has existed for a number of years, increasing levels of male frustration and vulnerability has, at least in part, driven further engagement. Further manosphere participation can serve to amplify several dangerous trends and activities that require police attention or add complexities to the policing landscape in Australia and New Zealand. Namely, at one end of the spectrum, the manosphere can act as a facilitator of extremist radicalisation. At the other, the ideologies of the manosphere can justify and legitimise behaviours and worldviews associated with FDSV, potentially increasing its prevalence within broader society.  

In order to potentially help stem the tide, police leaders across Australia and New Zealand can consider preventative strategies. By supporting partner agencies centred around educational and community-based initiatives that challenge harmful gender norms and promote healthier, more inclusive models of masculinity, police can play an active role in reducing the appeal, and therefore the impact, of the manosphere. 

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