A new report published in the Lancet recommends that policymakers address the manosphere and online misogyny through a coordinated public health approach, comparable to established strategies for combating tobacco use and ultra-processed food consumption.
The authors characterize the manosphere as a commercial ecosystem comprising loosely connected online communities organized around shared beliefs about masculinity, misogyny, and male victimization. The report describes how this landscape has evolved into a profitable industry that generates revenue by promoting extreme expressions of misogyny and aggrieved masculinity. According to the researchers, the business model relies on outrage and grievance, which incentivizes the amplification of the most extreme content.
The experts identify several underlying conditions that make young men vulnerable to these online spaces, including disengagement from education, loneliness, financial stress, and social exclusion. These circumstances can drive individuals to seek community and explanations for their difficulties, with some online spaces offering narratives that attribute their problems to feminism and women. The authors argue that addressing these root causes requires intervention across multiple sectors of society.
Prof Kent Buse, a co-author and co-founder of the social justice thinktank Global 50/50, stated that public health has established tools for addressing commercial harms and that these should be deployed in this context. He emphasized that the underlying issue stems from structural conditions leaving men isolated rather than masculinity itself being problematic.
Other experts welcomed the report’s framing while emphasizing that responses must address the legitimate needs these communities fulfill. Mark Brooks from the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys noted that engagement with this content varies significantly among young men and that research is underway to identify which populations face the greatest risk.
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