Pathways toward and away from online misogyny: What do men in the manosphere tell us?

Presented by Dr Vivian Gerrand, Deakin University at the Australian Institute of Criminology's AIC Conference 2025

In a digital ecology that is increasingly conducive to social harms, misogynist ideology operates across a spectrum of primarily online actors known colloquially as ‘the Manosphere’. These individuals and movements very often advocate or threaten violence against feminists and women in online spaces. This has significant consequences for women’s safety and capacity to participate in democratic exchange in the online public sphere. By framing contemporary gender politics as a ‘war against men’, the manosphere subverts the genealogy of violence, often inciting followers to sexual and terrorist violence against women and, in some cases, men. The online psychological and emotional abuse of women and the coercive behaviours that take place without the use of physical force are terrifying, controlling and injurious. Through in-depth interviews with male manosphere participants, our study considers the pathways that shape men’s participation in anti-women online spaces, including insights into how masculinity is weaponised within such spaces to drive online harms. We consider the role played by socio-economic factors, rhetorical strategies, emotional appeal, technological affordances and algorithmic design. Finally, drawing on the data collected, we present a preliminary identification of key intervention strategies to support disengagement from the manosphere.