The Learning Curve: Is the ‘Manosphere’ Gobbling Up Young Men?

There’s no shortage of crises in modern education, from slashed funding to the long shadow of Covid to the gigantic (and worrying) question mark of AI. But one of the most insidious has to be boys becoming inundated by so-called “manosphere” content.

The phrase describes a loose network of communities and content creators that range from incels to pick-up artists and everything in between. What they almost always share is a toxic and infectious misogynistic and anti-social message. Andrew Tate, a former MMA fighter who faces charges of sex trafficking in Romania and rape in the U.K., has been one of the biggest stars to emerge from this world. 

Young people, specifically boys, have been veritably bombarded with this content on social media.  

And it is far from harmless. Alongside the manosphere’s rise in popularity there has been a rise in misogynistic behavior and views amongst their content’s target audience that has for years been showing up in the classroom. 

A couple months ago, I spoke to an art teacher who said a boy in one of her classes told her women are simply biologically inferior to men. Because of that, they shouldn’t be allowed to teach, save for touchy-feely subjects like art, the boy told her.  

She’s not alone in having to confront this thinking head on; teachers across the country are grappling with this new reality. It’s far from a scientific example, but the subreddit r/teachers features dozens upon dozens of posts, with thousands of comments, about the influence of Andrew Tate alone. 

So, what gives? 

How can classrooms function when some boys are now espousing views that would have been seen as violently bigoted not that long ago? Part of the solution is confronting it head-on, but that’s not so easy in a world where social media algorithms fine tuned for engagement foist this toxic content upon kids. 

What’s also difficult for some to grasp is exactly why some boys have been sucked into this world. Luckily for us, former Voice of San Diego reporter, and current extremism reporter at USA Today, Will Carless, is on the case. Carless just released a short documentary, potentially the first in a series called “Extremely Normal,” about the manosphere, its influence and why it appeals to some young boys. So, I asked him a couple of questions about what he’s learned.  

Q: Why do you think young men and boys are so susceptible to the blatant misogyny of figures like Andrew Tate? 

A: It’s a big question. The simple version, as I explain in the piece and the documentary, is that young men — in America especially, but also worldwide — are facing a multifaceted crisis. A crisis of confidence and interpersonal relationships, but also a mental health crisis, where young men are committing suicide at historic rates and rates of depression are also higher than we’ve ever seen them. 

Into this void come figures like Andrew Tate. These influencers offer young men a way out of their misery, but also a scapegoat — an excuse for why they feel so lonely, sad and inadequate. 

I think the researcher and manosphere expert Cynthia Miller-Idriss, who we feature in the story, put it really well: “Boys search for ‘How to get my life together? How do I get a date? How do I talk to a girl?’ or ‘Why am I so depressed?’” she said. “And they’ll land on an influencer who gives them really helpful advice — actually just some basic kind of things that might help like ‘Hey, get eight hours of sleep, drink more water, go to the gym, make your bed in the morning, do your laundry,’ so you feel a little bit more sense of efficacy and accomplishment.” 

But it can also be the start of a slippery slope. 

“Misogynist and sexist attitudes are foundational to mass violence and violent extremism – as a gateway to later radicalization, as a red flag or warning sign for subsequent violence, as an integrated part of all far-right ideologies and as an ideology that motivates mass violence,” Miller-Idriss writes in her latest book, “Man Up,” which examined the deep roots between the Manosphere and other extremist beliefs and violence. 

Q: I’ve heard from multiple teachers that the influence of figures like Tate has had a corrosive impact on their classroom. Have you encountered that in your work? 

A: Oh definitely. Not just in my work, but in my personal life, too.  

There’s a pretty powerful moment in the documentary where Brenda Zarate, one of the women who was visiting the MMA gym where we filmed, stands up and talks about exactly that — about how second grade boys she works with are talking to girls their age. 

Here’s a quote from the print story: “I’ve noticed this past year, it’s been a serious issue with the way that they have started treating the girls,” Zarate said, her voice shaking slightly. “I have these little girls who I also adore constantly coming up to me and telling me that the boys are bullying them — that they’re telling them all these horrific things in second grade.” 

The researchers I spoke to for this story hear that sort of thing all the time. 

Q: What do you think schools can do to push back against the growing influence of manosphere figures? 

A: What the experts told us is that talking to kids about what they are consuming online is absolutely fundamental to combating these influences.  

Honestly, a lot of the men we talked to said they have strong male role models in their lives who can counteract this influence and help them separate the hyperbole and the performative outrage from genuine misogyny and toxicity. 

But children don’t tend to have that sort of knowledge or filters. They need help parsing these messages. And that involves parents or guardians or friends or teachers sitting down with boys and talking about what they’re seeing online, and how it might be affecting their views on women, sexuality, gender and relationships. 

Miller-Idriss, who I’ve been interviewing for years, often cites a fascinating study that showed one of the best ways to reach teenagers is, rather to talk to them about the content they are consuming, instead to talk to them about how they are being manipulated and monetized by people online. In general, teens and kids hate being manipulated and taken advantage of. So, sitting down with them and explaining how things like algorithms work, and how they’re being led by social media and by the influencers pushing content online, can be effective. 

And, as we showed in the documentary, there are positive male influencers out there like Jason Wilson, who teach young men and boys the good stuff like doing push-ups, and making your bed and eating healthily, without resorting to the catnip of misogyny.  

Lastly, there are resources available for schools and parents alike. Researchers like Cynthia and organizations like Equimundo and Diverting Hate do great work producing guides and research for schools and parents to combat this stuff. A bit of research and preparation goes a long way. 

What We’re Writing 

• Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump’s administration has ratcheted up immigration enforcement to an unprecedented degree. That’s included a mounting number of arrests of parents near the children’s schools. Amid the uptick, some teachers, like Erendira Ramirez, chair of the Association of Raza Educators have urged educators to take a harder stand against the actions, regardless of the legal bind they find themselves in. I spoke to Ramirez about her efforts for the latest installment of The Progress Report. 
• This isn’t really education related, but what the heck. For Voice’s latest theme week, I wrote about why San Diego’s long been such a tough place for artists and whether we can change that reality. I concluded the city has an “ASS,” problem. Let me know if you agree. 

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