Why the manosphere is so appealing to young men

The manosphere offers young men more than advice on making money and dating. It also provides a sense of recognition and belonging, writes Yeşim Topuz. ‘These communities give men the sense of being part of something bigger.’

The manosphere has moved beyond being an internet subculture. Teachers report how students have been using misogynist language they heard online. Around 73% of young (American) boys regularly encounter masculinity-related content, which mostly centers on making money, dating, being a provider, and similar topics. I think it is important to recognize that this ‘online culture’ has real-life effects. And we need to talk about that.

So, what do we do with men and young boys? Lonely, aggressive, falling behind – there are many ways to describe men’s ‘shortcomings.’ And the data may explain why. Women outnumber men in higher education and generally have higher GPAs; it seems like men struggle to keep up. But this isn’t new; in the Netherlands, more women than men have been enrolling in university for more than two decades. Men feel like women have the upper hand in nearly every area of life.

But why does it matter? Maybe they should just put in the effort to keep up with a society and world that no longer gives them a head start. However, I’m not sure this viewpoint addresses the real challenges at hand.

The problem I see with all this data about men essentially failing in modern life is that the issue runs far deeper. Framing education as anti-men or putting the blame on women in the dating field seems lazy. Yet, these narratives gain traction because of their simplicity.

On the one hand, the manosphere starts with a fairly good premise. It promises self-improvement, building a career or going to the gym. It also addresses real-life issues, such as rising living costs, job market pressure, and modern dating, which young men also seem to struggle with.

On the other hand, it goes deeper than that: belonging. These communities give young boys and men the sense of being part of something bigger. And that is what keeps them there, what makes it so appealing. In friendships and other socials settings, young men often struggle to be vulnerable without judgment. The manosphere exploits this vacuum. It weaponizes brotherhood, offering a clear, if distorted, moral framework. When the real world tells young men they are failing, these digital networks tell them they are part of a ‘misunderstood’ vanguard.

Patriarchy demands that men remain invulnerable, tying their entire self-worth to dominance, a cage built historically by men themselves. Meanwhile, neoliberal capitalism reduces human value to market output, telling young men that loneliness or financial strain are simply personal failures of the ‘grind.’ Instead of questioning a system that demands endless productivity while starving them of connection, the manosphere repackages those exact toxic expectations as a ‘cure’.

What isn’t new either is the perception of men or rather masculinity in crisis. The panic about the ‘softening’ or ‘decline’ of men resurfaces every so-often during economic or social shifts. Whenever traditional breadwinner roles fracture or women make institutional gains, society panics that manhood is vanishing. But past panics didn’t involve algorithmic echo chambers weaponizing that insecurity for profit.

Telling young men to simply ‘work harder’ in a changing landscape misses the point, because effort alone doesn’t manufacture a sense of purpose or community. When traditional markers of manhood seem to vanish, and institutional spaces, like universities or the corporate workspace, feel culturally alien, this space gets filled by algorithms and actors promising easy solutions.

Moving forward, it makes me wonder: how we can solve these real life issues, without leaving the field to manosphere influencers and antifeminist narratives?

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