Journalist Helen Lewis outlined how “masculinism” is now the single most important force uniting the right in America in her piece “The Men Who Don’t Want Women to Vote”, published in The Atlantic last month.
She describes the 2026 version of this force as “bringing together an unlikely constellation of pastors, posters, senators, preachers, influencers, podcasts and fanboys.”
This unruly gang ignores their differences to unite on one clear cause: fighting the gains of feminism. Concerns about the gains of women are so significant these individuals and groups can overlook where they hold massive disagreements elsewhere, such as regarding the war in Iran, the rise of big tech and AI and immigration.
There’s a wide spectrum of concerns at play – including legitimate concerns regarding male loneliness at one end, and Helen Andrews’ viral 2025 argument that women’s workforce participation has weakened institutions and undermined risk-taking culture. The spectrum extends to more extreme suggestions about “breeding gulags”, and Nick Fuentes’ grotesque comments that women are “our No. 1 political enemy.” Further, Lewis quotes Douglas Wilson, a pastor who was invited to lead a prayer service at the Pentagon, and wants to repeal the 19th Amendment to return to household-based voting, where men vote on behalf of families.
Given recent events in Australia, including backlash against key leadership appointments and the rise of One Nation, Lewis’ unifying force of masculinism is an idea we should further consider in light of some of the trends taking hold here.
Masculinism is taking hold across Australian political, sporting and cultural narratives, uniting our own broad spectrum of conservatives, columnists, gym bros, influencers, and elected officials against concerns about just what women have gained in recent years.
Indeed, one such columnist raised concerns about a “preference” for appointing women to key leadership roles and declared that Treasurer Jim Chalmers should never have drawn attention to the fact that women are now leading some of Australia’s biggest institutions, including the RBA, the Treasury and the Productivity Commission. Chalmers had merely pointed out the historic context of the “firsts” achieved for women, but his comments stirred subtle suggestions of a conspiracy of women taking the helm at the expense of more qualified men.
And such backlash was evident across some of the sexist and gendered hate posted in response to LT Gen Susan Coyle being appointed as the first female Chief of Army.
In 2026, we’re seeing a familiar pattern of backlash that emerges when women are perceived to have taken on too much power. Only this time, it’s far less subtle.
Alan Jones once declared that women were “destroying the joint”, referencing the fact that we had a female prime minister and female Lord Mayor of Sydney, and in other key positions of power at one point. Around the same time, then Opposition leader Tony Abbott addressed a rally in front of a “Ditch the Witch” sign depicting then Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
It’s telling that the same “Ditch the Witch” trope has emerged this week in Victoria, this time depicting Premier Jacinta Allan and this time paid for by a local businessman (he owns a brothel), with the sign touring the streets of Melbourne.
Recent ANU research found that the proportion of Australians who believe gender equality has gone “too far” had doubled to 19 per cent, while its research published in February 2026 found that younger generations of men in Australia are increasingly shifting to the right just as more women are shifting to the left – a local edition of the political polarisation that Lewis documents in her essay as occurring in the US.
Meanwhile, we cannot overlook the rise of One Nation in Australia and its opposition to certain women’s gains, despite the party having a female leader itself. One Nation employed a convicted rapist and then lamented the fact he had to be stood down due to concerns raised by key Liberal men. One Nation has also managed to attract other candidates and members sacked from elsewhere for breaching family violence prevention orders. And Hanson herself has a particular talent for cultivating support from extreme men’s rights activist groups.
And various forms of Helen Lewis’ spectrum of masculinism is reaching into Australian schools, with Monash University finding that ideas of male supremacy in Australian classrooms were “rampant among women teachers interviewed”. The teachers noted an increase in sexual harassment and overt displays of authority and dominance toward women teachers. A January 2026 study of 107 teachers found a noticeable shift since 2022, aligning with the rise of the manosphere.
Victoria recently announced its first Minister for Men and Boys, specifically to address the manosphere, seeing the state government formally acknowledging a policy problem serious enough to warrant ministerial attention.
Like in the US, the spectrum of masculinism in Australia is wide, ranging from legitimate concern on issues like male loneliness and poor mental health (which shouldn’t be confused as being caused by women), to ideas that Australia’s response to domestic and family violence has gone too far, to false narratives about reproductive rights, and to full-blown public, misogynistic claims about women in leadership.
It fits with Lewis’ description of masculinism playing into a “perpetual-motion machine of grievance, an inarticulate howl of anguish at the status quo – whatever that currently is.”
In 2026 Australia, the grievance machine spans a wide range of issues, including the cost of living, housing affordability, a lack of opportunity, and the fuel crisis. Various groups get blamed — like Immigration for housing (despite the evidence) and lefty inner-city hippies for rising energy costs. But beware a common rising enemy that becomes the perfect vehicle for parking all such blame: women.