Toxic commerce: How the manosphere monetises modern masculinity

The manosphere is big business today. Once a niche network lurking on the margins of the internet, this diverse community of male supremacist cultures has grown into a transnational profit-making enterprise.

Our new review of the growing body of research on the manosphere reveals how it’s evolved. It used to be largely special interest men’s rights groups, such as pick-up artists and incels (involuntary celibates). It’s now a widely mainstreamed and commercialised ecosystem, led by high-profile influencers or “manfluencers”, and has found ways to capitalize on the insecurities of men and boys, expand its reach, and ensure the movement’s longevity online.

Manosphere grift often takes the form of financial, health and relationship advice. Platforms, driven by recommending similar content to consumers to keep them online longer, then push this content further. Charged by anti-feminism, social media algorithms push apparent solutions for younger male internet users’ insecurities. This monetises them without providing true support.

The “thought leaders” of the manosphere maintain and grow their audiences by tapping into boys’ concerns about looks, economic futures and ability to attract women. The solution they present is two-fold: urge viewers to direct their anger and resentment toward women and feminism, and buy the manfluencer’s products.

Many manfluencers have subscription-based “academies” promoted as alternatives to school or college. Followers can buy one-on-one dating advice, access networking groups, or purchase manosphere podcast merchandise. Some sell supplements or swear by testosterone injections, while others peddle wellness-adjacent tech. Many men and boys buying into this content have been raised on neoliberal ideas of winners and losers, hustle culture and individual choice. In this worldview, your perceived failings are all your own fault.

In addition to its overtly anti-women messaging, today’s manosphere often operates through subtler forms of sexism. Many creators promote gender essentialism: the idea that men and women are born with significant cognitive and personality differences. This shift towards “alpha” masculinity has helped the movement achieve more mainstream appeal.

Male supremacists now use influencer culture to gain wealth while promoting right-wing reactionary politics. At the same time, mainstream platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts have been instrumental for increasing commercialisation. Experimental studies have shown how quickly young male users are served toxic content, often within minutes.

As the manosphere has expanded and shifted, it has also diversified. More users can find self-help advice from people who look like them. Gaines and Weekes use language to appeal to Black men, selectively invoking social justice while maintaining misogynist, homophobic and transphobic outlooks. By being agile and adaptable, the manosphere is entrenching itself in the online landscape.

There’s also a growing presence of anti-feminist “trad” women accounts. Black women creators have become big tradwives and “pick-me” girls. These women encourage followers to reject hustle culture and instead embrace traditional marriage. As with most manosphere trends, socioeconomic conditions play a key role.

To fully confront the forces shaping digital gender politics, it’s essential to consider the manosphere as both ideology and industry. Manfluencers and ideological entrepreneurs operate within a digital attention economy that converts insecurity into capital.

By better understanding this monetisation of grievance and equipping boys to respond critically to it, we can build healthier and more gender-equitable online cultures.

The Conversation