by Hugh Foy

The TV programme ‘Adolescence’ has opened up a debate on the impact of what has become known as the ‘manosphere’. The tragedy of an ordinary family’s despair when confronted with a son accused of murder is truly heartbreaking – the heartbreak amplified by the discovery that misogynistic media subcultures have come between them and the values they had sought to inculcate in their child.

It is not only a drama filled with acting and writing of the highest calibre, but also a wakeup call that speaks to the dangers of what isolation, insecurity, and confusion can evoke in teenage and young adult men. It powerfully examines the contemporary fears of, and challenges from, manosphere propaganda, in an internet world occupied by misogynistic role models. Men who are broadcasting and hosting in these spaces often perpetrate a hate that has at times culminated in violence and further fueled political ideologies already immersed in prejudice and discrimination.

For many of us this language and the reality it describes is so new that it is impossible to connect with our experiences of the men we know, or for men ourselves, who we are. However, increasingly women describe encountering these men in workplaces, social contexts and even in families. Most frequently, in social media.

Mindset

Exploring the manosphere online arose for me some time ago from a clinical setting as a counsellor. I became aware of questions and values in a few younger male clients that were touching upon manosphere writers and themes. Thankfully this was very much on the periphery of the manosphere world; however, it led me to explore how this mindset and its propogandists impact on the lives of young men.

Hugh Foy is Director of Programmes for the Xaverian Missionaries. This includes managing and delivering the Xaverian bereavement service for prisoners and supporting free counselling services for people on low incomes.

Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash