Extreme Misogyny Is an Endemic Social and Political Crisis

I conducted a journalistic investigation into the online manosphere last year. Writing for the Salt Lake City Weekly, I discovered that UN Women, the United Nations agency advocating for the rights of women and LGBTQ+ individuals, considers the manosphere and the commercialization of misogyny at a scale through social media ecosystems and so-called “self-help” groups to be a real crisis to the security and health of all in humanity—regardless of sex, gender, ethnicity, etc.

The investigation, published by an alternative regional news outlet, initially appeared to be a surprising hit. Reader interaction with the story was initially positive, but only in a community that I realized I am more likely to have common ground and agreement with. However, the larger reaction to my reporting was simply comedic drivel for predominantly far-right misogynist users.

Honestly, I wasn’t surprised. But some reactions clearly got to me, hence my mentioning of them. Serving as a freelance correspondent for the outlet, they maintain a policy of managing notes and feedback from readership, including accusations and threats. However, I make my email address available through a protected web form following a similar policy, especially as it relates to news tips and anonymous material transmissions. Some users found this web form and sent me a series of notes that accused me of being a “queer loving faggot,” a “cunt for a man,” and other names I will not mention here. One user sent me a picture of his penis, saying he was going to “rape me” to prove what a man is. I never told my publisher about these notes because they validated my hypothesis.

This was all nearly a year ago. I’ve submitted material to the appropriate authorities, but nothing has come of it. Nor do I expect it to. However, this got me thinking: “What if this story was by a woman or a gender diverse person?” While all I can do is speculate as to how these individuals would react, the actual action of digital trolling and intimidation has proven heinous and deadly. I digress, though. My experiences, observations, reportage and academic research have led me to conclude that extreme misogyny is an endemic social and political crisis. Men must help hold other men accountable. What I have found myself doing a lot more in recent years is explaining to other men that misogyny is a very real crisis in our society. And oftentimes in those situations, I am met with the prototypical responses: passive, never full-hearted agreement or a total rebuff.

And no man is truly immune to saying or doing something that any individual could consider to be misogynistic. But recent events and cases have highlighted the need to continue to deconstruct toxic masculinity and extreme misogyny and present the concepts as violent by their very nature. And, no, this isn’t as simple as saying, “not all men are like this.” Toxic masculinity is systemic.

On that note, toxic masculinity is sociologically and psychologically linked to outward displays of aggressive and violent behaviors in men. This is built around rigid masculine expectations in society, typically exacerbated by traditionalism found in conservative Christian faith or through other fundamentalist variations of Abrahamic religions, including Islam and Judaism. A subset of “toxicity” attached to masculine conduct and beliefs normalizes retaliation, anger as a prominent emotional display, and the fixation of physicality, strength or reaction to fight any “weaknesses.”

Typically, the approach needed to “break out” of a toxic masculine headspace is to start in youth. The American Psychological Association synthesized existing research on the upbringing of men and boys to conclude that negative masculine constructs should be deconstructed early on in life, as it could prevent the expression of aggression and violence during youth and adulthood.

And this includes efforts to openly reduce and shift misogynistic tendencies, often accompanied by the toxic masculine constructs of aggression and strength, in a similar fashion. Unfortunately, there is a concerted effort in our society that serves in a reactionary design to suggest efforts of “deconstruction” or “shifting” addressed in the previous sentences are an attack on men and boys in general. Of note, consider a case involving present-day conservative politicians at positions of high power. I’m based in the U.S. state of Missouri. My state’s senior U.S. senator is named Josh Hawley. Sen. Hawley released a book he authored in May 2023, titled “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.” Hawley goes at great lengths to identify what he views as a set of issues that men and boys are facing: a rising mental health crisis, higher suicide rates, lower educational ambition and attainment among younger men, and a much lower likelihood to disclose abuse or sexual assault. Issues that all center on the fact that toxic masculinity itself is still an expectation.

Hawley’s diagnosis is a lack of spirituality, and his solution for men is for them to subscribe to a hyperconservative, hypermasculine, white-dominated interpretation of rigid gender norms and a social interpretation that blames even a hint of “non-Christian” masculinity as the crisis. Hawley, in his own way, channeled his toxic masculinity and misogynistic viewpoints to intellectualize a worldview that only appeals to a small segment of the population. Meanwhile, there are parallel interpretations of masculinity that are as toxic, if not more, including the viewpoints espoused by the human trafficker-influencer Andrew Tate or self-help psychologist Jordan Peterson. I can go on for hours and hours about this stuff. What is most alarming about all of this is that the socio-political bridge to toxic masculinity and extreme misogyny has to right-wing and far-right movements, such as the Donald Trump-centered Make America Great Again cults or the plethora of garden-variety extremist movements extant in society—many with political ideas and viewpoints that are never coherent, and extended from toxic interpretations of “real masculinity.”

Extreme misogyny cannot be dismissed as an unfortunate corner of internet culture or behavior of a handful of angry men; it is a social and political force with consequences that extend so far beyond immediate life. Genuinely, it is an endemic crisis sustained when political movements, religious fundamentalists, online manosphere influencers, and ordinary men attempt to legitimize the domination and resentment of women and LGBTQ+ people as a means to control individuals.

I leave you all with this thought: Is it truly anti-man to advocate for positive masculinity? No, by no means is it anti-man or a demonstration of weakness. Rather, addressing concerns such as the crises of extreme misogyny and toxic masculinity should be framed as curative and restorative.