The “manosphere” has become a household term following the rapid success of Netflix’s Adolescence, which follows the story of a 13-year-old boy who gets drawn into and heavily influenced by this complex online anti-feminist community that targets the fears and anxieties of young men and boys. The show highlights an alarming reality – that young people are being exposed to a growing volume of misogynistic content online, and many lack the critical thinking and analytical skills to safely navigate these spaces.
There is no silver bullet to eliminating harmful content within the manosphere, and the solution must be multi-faceted, including a whole-of-society approach to calling young men and boys into conversations about masculinity. One of the biggest misconceptions to this multi-pronged solution is that it is out of everyday Australians’ hands to make a difference, and that it is exclusively people in power who can drive tangible change.
As the spotlight on our political leaders intensifies in the coming days leading up to the federal election, they have a significant opportunity to correct this misconception, while also proactively contributing to preventative solutions that are proven to help eradicate gender-based and sexual violence.
What a better use of power could look like
In the manosphere, it’s common for masculinity to be associated with control and power over women. In their everyday lives, young men and boys may see this when they see men talking over women or dismissing a women’s opinion, when a woman may be overlooked or ignored for being “too emotional”, when their father or a male adult in their community has a suddenly aggressive outburst, or when they see men in movies using loud, booming voices to intimidate people around them.
While most politicians are on the campaign trail with the goal of connecting with communities by visiting local cafes, walking through construction sites with hard hats, or even posing for photos with families, the reality is that these images are in stark contrast to what reports show is still often an unsafe place for women to work. Some parliamentary staffers have reported having only female staff, in an effort to protect themself, while others refuse to go out at night while parliament is sitting. Furthermore, “condescending, unprofessional, and often misogynistic behaviour” from male MPs is still evident in parliament, including during Question Time when heckling and shouting are common. These actions may seem far-fetched from the manosphere, but unfortunately these actions can contribute to the impacts of the manosphere on young people.
After all, if the people in our highest positions of power in our country cannot demonstrate respectful behaviour to each other, how is anyone else meant to follow suit?
There is a huge opportunity for politicians to use their power for good by displaying and encouraging healthy versions of masculinity among each other. If our political leaders can lead by example, and show that being powerful also means being respectful, kind, thoughtful, and inclusive to people from all walks of life, this kind of content could have a chance at competing with the high volume of harmful content currently online and taking up young people’s headspace. This could look like proactive measures to improve gender representation in parliament, inviting women into conversations, and applying a gender lens to the policies they support.
Inspire young people to join the conversation
A major contributor to the widespread impact of the manosphere has been that young men and boys are not comfortable with talking about their perspectives on masculinity and relationships with the adults in their lives, and many parents are shying away from these conversations, too. Consequently, young people turn to online and social content for answers and, whether they were looking for it or not, can stumble across harmful communities within the manosphere that invite them in and validate their concerns.
To counter this, we need all members of our society, particularly politicians to play an active role in starting and inviting young men and boys into these constructive, open, and non-judgemental conversations.
Rather than avoiding tough discussions, our political and community leaders are uniquely positioned to normalise conversations around different forms of masculinity and encourage spaces for young people to ask questions. In real terms, this could look like being vulnerable in sharing their own experiences publicly, being honest in not having all the answers and promoting help-seeking behaviour, and inviting young people to share their ideas with their local representatives.
With two weeks until the election and an increasingly aggressive campaign trail, we’ll see our most powerful political leaders – all men – take to the microphone time and time again to push their own agendas and win votes. If they can simultaneously use every opportunity in front of a camera to role model healthy versions of masculinity, this election could mark one of Australia’s biggest leaps towards a manosphere-free future.
Support Women’s Agenda! We are 100% independent and women-owned. We’re covering the Federal Election from the perspective of what matters to women, and always keeping the issues that matter for women on the daily agenda. Foundation memberships are just $5 a month.
Bonus: you’ll receive our weekly editor’s wrap of the key stories to know every Saturday.