The Manosphere: A digital brotherhood turned public health crisis?

Between the Netflix documentary Inside the Manosphere and the polarizing presence of influencers like Andrew Tate, the manosphere has moved from obscure to mainstream. But what is it? What does it mean for our youth?

In essence, the manosphere is an umbrella term for a borderless network of websites, social media, fora, and podcasts centered on the male experience. While its content initially appears neutral with self-improvement topics such as fitness, career development, discipline, and responsibility, it is underpinned with the Red Pill ideology.

This ideology is built on the idea that by “swallowing” the red pill men can finally see the truth of their victimization by an oppressive feminist system (1). The shared beliefs of antifeminism and male supremacy inherently tied to the Red Pill ideology connects the manosphere’s various groups and manifests as disdain and violence against women

Accessibility makes the manosphere easy to find. Through social media algorithms, a quick search for gym tips can result in consumption of extreme content promoting violence or abuse (2). More than 60% of 16–25-year-old male youth in the US, UK, and Australia engaged with masculinity influencers (3). While the numbers are still unclear, estimates suggest that as many as 80% of 16-17-year-olds in the UK have seen manosphere content (2).

Engaging with the manosphere often starts as self-help but can lead to significant health and behavioral risks. For example, research links strong self-identification with ‘traditional’ masculinities, those that reinforce the idea that men should hold the power, to increased alcohol and drug use and sexual risk-taking (4, 5). The pressure to ‘level up,’ a term used to reference how to increase value as a ‘real’ man, also often leads to self-objectification, a hyper-fixation with physical appearance and how others perceive them. It is associated with various negative psychological outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and disordered eating (6, 7).

Failing to meet the ‘brotherhood’s’ impossible standards often leads to distress that many men are unequipped to deal with. Instead, they often turn to the source of their distress for help (6, 8). In the most extreme cases, certain manosphere forums promote suicide as the ‘courageous’ choice. Some even go so far as to applaud those who have the courage to “rope” (a regularly used term referencing hanging), rather than seeking professional help (8).

The manosphere is not only an online phenomenon. It is increasingly seen as a developing public health crisis given its link to mental health problems, substance use, and avoidance of care (9, 10). Care avoidance in combination with health risks creates population level prevention and intervention challenges as those most vulnerable dismiss the systems designed to help them (8). It is a feedback loop that drives a polarization between genders as both discrimination against women and the male crisis increase. In order to address a public health crisis affecting both halves of the human population, we need a population level approach in which we focus on both genders, rather than just one.

This blog was written by Eva DeYoung (Radboud University) for RAD-blog, the blog about smoking, alcohol, drugs, and diet.

References

1. Botto, M., & Gottzen, L. (2022). Swallowing and spitting out the red pill: Young men, vulnerability, and radicalization pathways in the manosphere. Journal of Gender Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2023.2260318
2. Gilmour, J. (2025). Narrative Matters: Adolescence in The Manosphere – A perfect storm? Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 30(3), 320–322. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.70012
3. Fisher, K., Rice, S. & Seidler, Z. Young Men’s Health in a Digital World (Movember Institute of Men’s Health, 2025).
4. Merdassa, A. B. (2024). Traditional masculinity, peer pressure, and sensation seeking as correlates of risky behaviours. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 29(1), 2298087. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2023.2298087
5. Scharrer, E., & Warren, S. (2022). Adolescents’ Modern Media Use and Beliefs About Masculine Gender Roles and Norms. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(1), 289–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211035453
6. Newheiser, A.-K., LaFrance, M., & Dovidio, J. F. (2010). Others as Objects: How Women and Men Perceive the Consequences of Self-Objectification. Sex Roles, 63(9), 657–671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9879-y
7. Schaefer, L. M., & Thompson, J. K. (2018). Self-objectification and disordered eating: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 51(6), 483–502. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22854
8. Vallerga, M., & Zurbriggen, E. L. (2022). Hegemonic masculinities in the ‘Manosphere’: A thematic analysis of beliefs about men and women on The Red Pill and Incel. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 22(2), 602–625. https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.12308
9. Murphy, S., Roddy, D. W., & Skelton, C. (2025). Adolescence, the manosphere and psychiatry. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(4), 327–328. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipm.2025.10081
10. Nagata, J. M., Leong, A. W., Huang, O. H., & Moreno, M. A. (2026). Beyond the manosphere: Supporting boys’ and men’s health in online spaces. American Journal of Public Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308519