Experts Call Manosphere a Mental Health and Public Health Crisis
UK experts argue the manosphere and online misogyny should be treated as public health issues, citing their contribution to violence and mental health harms. A new report calls for a coordinated response from governments, schools, and health services.
The manosphere and online misogyny should be treated as a public health issue. UK this diffuse commercial ecosystem promotes extreme misogyny and aggrieved masculinity, contributing directly to health harms including violence against women and girls and significant mental health issues. The movement centres around a so-called crisis of masculinity and a shared conviction that feminism has systematically disadvantaged men.
Outrage and grievance are cultivated in the manosphere and subsequently monetised. It is a lucrative online industry and a loose collection of communities united by these beliefs. Content creators and hosting platforms deploy strategies that individualise responsibility, framing men's problems as the result of feminism rather than structural conditions. Masculine identity is commodified through products and paid content that normalise health-harming, performance-oriented masculinities. Prof Kent Buse, a report co-author, stated plainly: "This is a business model, not a fringe."
Vulnerability of boys and men
Boys and men are particularly vulnerable to these online communities. Disengagement from education, loneliness, money worries, and social exclusion create fertile ground. The manosphere offers boys and young men a sense of belonging and identity. Prof Sarah Hawkes, another co-author, explained: "The manosphere offers boys and young men belonging, identity." Their insecurities are cultivated there.
Need for a co-ordinated response
Tackling the manosphere requires a co-ordinated response by governments, schools, health services and community organisations. Efforts to regulate or moderate content are necessary, though they are frequently framed as threats to men's autonomy. Regulation should focus on the online platforms rather than the users. Strengthening existing content moderation to restrict harmful environments and harnessing algorithms to promote positive messaging and norms is key. Ofcom is currently gathering evidence until 4 November on platform safety measures.
Addressing root causes is equally vital. Factors such as educational marginalisation, social exclusion and isolation in boys and young men must be tackled. Communications strategies should avoid framing masculinity as inherently toxic or boys and men as inherently problematic. Boosting employment, skills to improve access to jobs, re-engaging boys in education and ensuring equitable access to mental health and other frontline health services are necessary. The report was written by Prof Kent Buse, who is affiliated with Monash University Malaysia and co-founded Global 50/50, and Prof Sarah Hawkes, co-founder of the same social justice think tank.
Separate research has considered how patriarchal expectations around masculinity are harming men's health. The policy conversation includes figures like Mark Brooks, policy and communications director at the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, and Professor Jim Catto, Professor of Urology at the University of Sheffield. The UK government's Minister for Men and Boys is Jake Richards. The call is clear: treating the manosphere as a public health threat requires systemic action across multiple fronts to safeguard mental health.
