The manosphere is a term that was coined to describe web-based misogynistic movements. Some of these contain more alt-right rhetoric and some contain progressive male issues (Nagle, 2017). Some of these sites gather men to share their toxic views about women, The Red Pill is subreddit page that gathers these kinds of opinions and signifies the antifeminist online movement. The name was inspired by a part in The Matrix (1999) in which the red pill signified a wonderland. In this movement, the world in which the red pill is chosen is said to be a world where women have taken over the world without taking full responsibility for it and have let men become their victims (Marche, 2016). That is the general premise. Most of the comments and threats made are based on spiteful stupidity and plain hatred for female independence but it is honestly pathetic.
Men of the manosphere have obscene locker room talks, grade themselves into a social hierarchy filled with terms like alpha male and beta male and propose misogynistic theories about how you should never work under a female boss; these men have brought down the standard. Roosh V is one of these men living in the manosphere. Nagle (2017) quotes his mockery of rape and his various arguments that undermine women and some men as well. He took the 2016 US Presidential election that won Trump his presidency as a victory for his movement (ibid).
Many of the inhabitants of the manosphere would be in disbelief if they had heard that in reality the origins of male movements started alongside and sprouted from the feminist movements of sexual liberation and sex roles (Nagle, 2017). However, by the time the second wave of feminism came along, more antagonistic sentiments toward men had formed and eventually both sides split and provoke the other (ibid). After the second wave of feminism, multiple male authors expressed that there was no male privilege and focused on violence against men and men’s rights (ibid). Furthermore, as online culture took off, the anonymity factor helped increase right-wing sentiments and antifeminist movements get attention online. Sites like Reddit and 4chan had ‘revenge porn’ images and videos as well as rape threats and accounts of harassment towards women (Marche, 2016). These posts and misogynistic sites had taken all the attention away from actual men’s rights movements about unequal social services and suicide.
References
Nagle, A. (2017). Kill All Normies. Hunt Publishing Limited, John.
Marche, S. (2016, April 14). Swallowing the Red Pill: A journey to the heart of modern misogyny.Retrieved 29 December 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/14/the-red-pill-reddit-modern-misogyny-manosphere-men
