After watching the show Adolescence—about a 13-year-old boy who stabs a female classmate to death after exposure to misogynistic influence online—I wondered if the story was an extreme or unrealistic case. But in the United Kingdom, where Adolescence takes place, there has been a significant increase in adolescent boys attacking girls with knives. In 2024, according to Statista, a researcher created an “experimental” TikTok account to represent a 16-year-old boy. Within five minutes, the account was exposed to hyper-masculine content. Within 10 minutes, the algorithm fed it misogynistic and anti-feminist content. And within two hours, it received toxic, extreme right-wing, reactionary recommendations.
Social media algorithms are designed to give people what they want so they stay on the app. So this is the content many boys desire—but why, and is it dangerous? Is the manosphere perpetuating male aggression and violence? Here are some answers and why so many boys are drawn to the manosphere.
But first…
What is the manosphere?
The manosphere is a loosely connected group of blogs, websites, chatrooms, and online communities centered on men’s issues, often promoting male supremacy, misogyny, and anti-feminism.
Why are so many boys drawn to it?
There are three things teenagers are searching for: identity (who they are), belonging (where they fit), and their sense of power and agency (the ability to have influence). All of those are question marks for teens, and when teen boys get rejected (especially by girls) or don’t feel like they fit in or have power and influence, it hurts. They feel weak and vulnerable, which is uncomfortable at least, but for men, it’s the worst way to be perceived. So boys get angry and express their anger. Then they start looking at reels on social media, and they’re fed manosphere influencers who speak right into their hurt with practical advice.
They say, “You have every right to be angry. It’s not your fault. Females are inherently shallow, and this feminized world is stacked against you. You need to rebel by being a dominant alpha male like me. Be a strong man. That’s what the world needs.”
These guys preach status and power and that men are better and made to rule, that women are not as strong or intelligent as men. In the manosphere, women have their role in the home, and they should be doing that and keeping men sexually satisfied. Hearing things like this makes boys who have been rejected by girls feel good.
It gives them a clear identity to strive for. It gives them belonging because they become a part of this incel or manosphere community. And it makes them feel powerful and entitled.
Is the manosphere dangerous?
Yes, it is. Beyond playing the victim, holding male superiority viewpoints, and demanding submission and respect, which only invites a lack of respect, the manosphere is training boys to build their houses on sand. Jesus warned about this in his famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24–27). As I’ve researched the manosphere and listened to the influencers, it’s obvious to me that these men’s insecurity has not been healed; it’s just hidden behind a lot of blustering and bravado.
I’ll never forget a commenter calling me a beta once because an article I had written gave the advice that a husband should serve his wife. I probably shouldn’t have responded, but replied with a harsh truth: The only guys who need to use words like alpha and beta to describe people are betas themselves. Men who are truly strong and self-confident don’t need to put other people down or call them weak to feel good about themselves.
Men in the manosphere are trying to fill a hole with stuff that won’t fill it and won’t erase their insecurity. At worst, it can hurt them and those around them. Nurturing anger, bitterness, a sense of superiority, or seeing women as sexual conquests, will only make a person lash out eventually, often in violent, abusive ways. And even if they achieve the status they crave, they have to maintain that status to protect a fragile ego. They’ll do anything to keep their status, sometimes in morally questionable ways.
Sound off: What are other reasons so many boys are drawn to the manosphere?
Huddle up with your kids and ask, “Have you ever heard of the manosphere? What do you think about it?”