Two researchers are urging governments to respond to the online manosphere through education, health services and platform oversight, arguing that social pressures can make its communities more appealing to boys and young men.
In their Viewpoint in The Lancet, Professor Sarah J Hawkes and Professor Kent Buse describe an online ecosystem where communities and commercial activity promote ideas about masculinity, men’s victimization and misogyny. They say educational disengagement, loneliness, financial worries and social exclusion can increase the groups’ appeal by offering belonging and explanations for hardship.
The authors flag possible consequences for boys and young men, including mental-health and body-image problems and reluctance to seek professional help. They also warn that normalizing misogynistic attitudes may make violence against women and girls more acceptable.
The proposed response reaches beyond content moderation. Hawkes and Buse call for efforts to bring boys back into education, connect health and school services, and widen access to mental-health care. They also propose school programs on emotional skills and respectful relationships, public messaging that challenges misogyny, and research to assess whether interventions help.
The authors want policymakers to consider rules aimed at commercial arrangements that may reward harmful material. They argue platforms and creators can profit from anger and grievance, creating incentives that may encourage more extreme content.
Hawkes and Buse draw a comparison with public-health efforts involving tobacco and ultra-processed food, while cautioning that the analogy has limits. Online communities vary, their harms are harder to establish directly, and participation can also be beneficial. The Viewpoint sets out policy recommendations without estimating the scale of involvement or establishing causal effects.
“Boys and men are not the problem,” Buse said, arguing that policy should address the circumstances around these communities as well as their content.
A Thursday, Nov. 5, event at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is set to mark the launch of The Lancet’s men’s-health series.
