“inside the manosphere” - what the actual …?
I was thinking … should we be worried about our future generations already or there is still time to act? Yesterday, the highly recommended from friends documentary “Inside the manosphere“ on Netflix was on the menu. Decided with my wife that we shouldn’t wait any longer and embarked on the roller coaster of emotions which was watching it.
For me the shock was a bit dampened by the fact that I already have seen some of the protagonists podcasts and social media declarations of “manlyhood” but for my wife, it was another story. There were at least 5 times when she asked me if this is for real? The commentaries and the behavior of the “characters“ in the film where at a level, which brought us to the question in the end, “this is what teenagers are watching and are inspired from?“.
Before addressing some of the mind blowing facts gathered from the documentary, I must respect and praise the work of the presenter Louis Theroux which has shown in more than one occasions that silence can say much more that throwing words per minute, tactic used extensively by the characters of the documentary. His composure , well mannered approach and good vocabulary were for me the right approach in letting the characters tell their own story and uncover the mountain of s..t with their own words.
There are a few points which I would like to make to these modern hustlers and pimps approach to viewing the society in which we live in.
Money - one of the main discussed topics was the wealth and possibilities each and one of us have in reaching it. The Red Pill which talks about exiting the Matrix, and leaving that steady 9-5 job for doing “stuff“ online is sold as the key to success. I honestly felt sorry for the guys nodding at the words of one of the influencers, Justin. He was absorbing every word, even though the lessons were common sense at most but presented like revolutionary, as being happy that he is no longer homeless. It was an excellent contrast between the salesman who would do anything to remain in the center of attention and the junior who was blind to the fact that the things sold can very easily bring him back to the streets. Watching all characters in the movie, it is easily to see that their definition of success revolves around money as single point of reaching it. The problem with salesman is that as long as the market is not over-saturated, they all profit but only then. It is not for everyone to hustle and pimp their way into success, but it certainly is made to seem like it. Interesting part was that the blame in listening to the things they regurgitate is shifted to the parents, the perfect sales pitch. 100% reward with 0% accountability
Relationship - a common understanding of the influencers was that they were pretty much allowed to have an open relationship but their partners did not, because they did not need too. The same idea was repeated multiple times one of them wanting to extend his marriage to having 4 wifes (his partner at the time left him according to the end credits). There is nothing wrong in having an open relationship, if that fulfills you. But having it only at 50%, where only the man is allowed to “do his stuff“ made me laugh so hard at the irony of the situation. One of the ladies stated that she allows it because she trusts him. Poor woman, was not even married to the guy, to have a safety net for the years that will inevitable come when the physical attraction will no longer be the norm. Who am I to judge … I have a loving wife for only almost 25 years …
Women - Now this a view which all guys in the manosphere seem to share. Women are presented as either low IQ and low value based on the number of partners they had in their life, or as “high value assets“ that need a constant infusion of money to work properly; by work I mean to women things like cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. What will be interesting to see over the years how this views apply to their children as some of them had little girls. Their misogynistic approach can come from the fact suggested in the documentary as well, that they lacked the father figure when they were little therefore could not build a healthy view what a “regular“ relationship should look like. A second possibility could be their own internal insecurities manifesting through the Alpha male role played every day. If they lose that, suddenly they will go in a really dark world, therefore the constant chatting about how good, cool, rich is needed.
What is the most troublesome point is the fact that their audience are kids and young adults with brains in development who, through the power of social media, are convinced that women have a certain worth (or none at all), that relationships are casual for man and money are to be made by hustling and pimping girls on Onlyfans. The ones who do not learn better or maybe don’t have the chance to find a good role model in their life, will be inspired by these characters and what a sad day will be for them when they find out that the world is not only about these shallow things presented in their shorts or TikTok videos.
What can be done? One good start would be the limitation of social media platforms to 16 years old, projects already started in some european countries. Secondly, language inciting to violence should be treated more harshly, online and also offline. The whole idea of social media even though good at it’s roots, seems to decay the interpersonal skills that we build through direct interaction so bad that we reach a point where hustlers and pimps think they can build a society in their own image. And that, we should fight with every fiber of our being, because we are talking about our future and our children.
Until next time, TFG