In the first part of this series, we looked at the meaning of ‘Manosphere’—and what it claims about women—and birthed a ‘Femosphere’. Today, we look at whether there is any difference between the Manosphere and patriarchy as usual—especially in India? We look at the mainstreaming of the Manosphere—and its spread to India—where Andrew Tate is god and Shah Rukh Khan is simp.
Manosphere: A crisis of masculinity
It’s easy to dismiss the Manosphere—and associated terms like incel, men’s rights etc—as just patriarchy by another name. But the idea itself is closely linked to a supposedly new phenomenon—a “crisis of masculinity”—especially in the West. So what’s this alleged crisis?
Most simply put, “millions of men are falling behind women academically and suffering from a lack of meaning and purpose.” There is now a yawning gender gap in higher education—47% of American women aged 25 to 34 have a bachelor’s degree, compared to 37% of men. 30 years ago, American women and men were both equally likely to hold a bachelor’s degree—at 25%. And young men are more isolated than ever: only 27% of American men say they have at least six close friends—compared to 55% in 1990.
The effects of loneliness: As the highly acclaimed series ‘Adolescence’ shows, these lonely boys and men seek guidance and companionship online—and are guided straight to the ‘Manosphere’ by tech algorithms—optimised to monetise their angst:
Algorithmic processes on TikTok and other social media sites target people’s vulnerabilities – such as loneliness or feelings of loss of control – and gamify harmful content. Harmful views and tropes are now becoming normalised among young people. Online consumption is impacting young people’s offline behaviours, as we see these ideologies moving off screens and into school yards.
An escalation of hate: Back in 2020, MIT Technology Review noted the alarming radicalisation of traditional ‘men’s rights’ groups on the internet. Researchers found their members were migrating to incel groups that advocated violence against women. And the rhetoric on those groups was steadily becoming more extreme: “Indeed, it seems that not only are older, less violent groups dying off, but membership in the more violent groups is becoming more toxic.”
Cycling back to the mainstream: As ‘fringe’ groups become more violent, the more standard tropes of the ‘manophere’ have become more acceptable. For example: Mark Zuckerberg who recently said on Joe Rogan’s show: “The corporate world is pretty culturally neutered. A culture that celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits. Masculine energy, I think, is good.”
The language of the Manosphere—which “celebrates a kind of swaggering, often vulgar male speech”—is everywhere—from the White House to the top of the Spotify playlist. This sheer ubiquity of toxic machismo makes many question whether this so-called ‘Manosphere’ is anything new—or even worthy of all this angst over masculinity.
Manosphere: men being men, as always
Even Manosphere gurus agree that the biggest ‘crisis of masculinity’ is the rising confidence of women—and their push to redefine their identities and roles in societies. This encompasses everything from the corporate feminist of ‘Lean In’ to the rebellion against sexual abuse like MeToo. That’s why many feminists dismiss the Manosphere (and its mirror Femosphere) as age-old backlash against women’s gains:
In her 1991 book “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,” Susan Faludi put forth the idea of a cycle of male revanchism against successive waves of feminism. “It returns every time women begin to make some headway toward equality,” she wrote, “a seemingly inevitable early frost to the culture’s brief flowerings of feminism.”
The yearning to return to the “good old times” when men were men—and women knew their place—rears its ugly head with each generation and wave of feminism.
Patriarchy by any other name: Others say the so-called Manosphere is just another word for the man’s world women have always endured:
[C]onsider the tableaux in D.C. from a longer view. A group of macho men gathered to witness the ascent of their leader: This is a scene that has been repeated endlessly in the span of recorded human history, sung in songs, celebrated in paintings and recorded in books. One might say, just a bit facetiously, that the real “manosphere,” strictly speaking, is Planet Earth.
If that’s true, then why wring our hands over the “plight of young men”—as an enraged Laurie Penny asks:
When will it be someone else’s turn for concern and understanding? When will the frustrated man-children and hysterical racists clamouring for someone to entertain their ‘legitimate’ concerns offer anyone else a solitary shred of the empathy and respect they demand on pain of violence?
Others are even more strident in rejecting the idea that young boys need any kind of special attention:
When someone is in pain precisely because he has an overblown sense of entitlement to the soothing ministrations of others, which have not been forthcoming, stepping in to assuage his pain becomes an ethically fraught enterprise. Even expressing our sympathies runs the risk of feeding his false, dangerous sense that other people – especially girls and women – exist to pander to the incel’s needs and to gratify his ego. So here, as elsewhere, we ought to resist the pressure to himpathize.
But, but, but: There is a downside to dismissing the Manosphere as nothing new. It also normalises the very real peril it poses to women and girls right now:
[M]isogyny and violence against women are so widespread and so normalized, it is difficult for us to consider these things 'extreme' or 'radical,' because they are simply not out of the ordinary. We do not leap to tackle a terrorist threat to women, because the reality of women being terrorized, violated and murdered by men is already part of the wallpaper.
All of which brings us to India—where violence against women is so routine that it rarely makes the front page unless it is pathologically extreme (example: iron rods).
Welcome to the Indian Manosphere
It's hardly surprising that the gurus of the Manosphere have a global following. Andrew Tate is is especially hero-worshipped by schoolboys across India—from Nagpur to Bangalore:
A recent viral video showed an Indian boy, no older than 10, staring aggressively at the camera and delivering the words, “Your ancestors can defeat the lion, but you are ruining your life for a hoe.” One of the pinned comments under the video claimed that this was a “recreation” of a video by Andrew Tate.
And since Indians have long been excellent at dutifully imitating the West, we also have our own versions of Andrew Tate. One example is Thoppi—a hugely popular Malayali PUBG gamer who often makes “lewd and sexually charged remarks about women” on his YouTube vids:
When asked what appealed to them most about Thoppi, his little fans at the event, some of whom were in Classes 7 and 8, said they loved him despite the abusive language he uses, and sometimes because of it. A few proudly called Thoppi a “sigma”, claiming that the way the YouTuber “avoids” and “hates women” was especially appealing to them.
Thanks to the algorithm, boys who first discover Tate are then led to Hindi influencers like Elvish Yadav—who then “pave the way to the building of smaller and more intimate online communities of radicalised young men, falling further down the rabbit hole of propaganda, now specifically tailored to their own local norms and languages.”
Don’t be like Shah Rukh: One of the great concerns of Indian dating coaches like Sarthak Goel—the desi version of a pickup artist—is that the Bollywood romcom has emasculated men:
“Certain things in the environment told us that we needed to behave in a way that was harming us. Like Shah Rukh Khan in his films—he is always chasing the girl, he wants to please her and be nice to her, he is a ladies man. These were our role models. I thought ‘how can I get my men back on track’?”... [Goel] thinks Khan’s dominant image is that of a “simp”— a derogatory term for a man who is seen as being attentive and submissive to women.
The message of the Indian Manosphere: Screw Shah Rukh, be Ranbir in ‘Animal’—which may explain its stellar box office performance.
Point to note: Some Indian researchers pinpoint the rise of the Indian Manosphere on Indian Twitter to the MeToo movement back in 2018. It helped coalesce disparate anxieties about Indian women gaining too much power and independence.
Land of the OG MGTOW? In many ways, Indian patriarchy has long been aligned with ideas that are now associated with the Western Manosphere. Example: Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) gives up on having any connection with women—and opts instead for separatism. That’s just another version of the ‘Brahmacharya’ worldview—which views women as sirens who sap masculine power. An Indian MGTOW Facebook page offers this quote from Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj:
A man becomes pitiable due to his attachment.. then the bondage is broken.
Land of the OG incels? The incel culture—which advocates violence against women who reject men—is so routine in India that it doesn’t require its own category:
[M]uch of the incel violence around the world closely mirrors certain patterns of crime already seen in India. For instance, incidents of acid attacks on women by men who feel rejected or slighted are prevalent in the country. It is also common in India to hear of men publicly stabbing women or setting them on fire for similar reasons, though we are yet to officially label these cases as acts of misogynist extremism.
What is chilling—and notable—is the Manosphere view that India doesn’t have as many incels—or involuntary celibates—because arranged marriages guarantee access to sex. But that will change in the future because:
1) The end to the practice of arranged marriages in urban India. Arranged marriages are viewed as archaic by many middle class urban Indians. This will result in ugly males having to get brides from lower casts.
2) Lack of women. There is a shortage of women in India and this should be self explanatory.
3) Growing feminism has caused many women to see being a wife as a bad thing…
4) Most Indian males have no social skills that involve conversation with women. Indian men have yet to adapt to them and they are going to drown in an India without arranged marriage.
I truly feel sorry for middle class Indian men as things are going to get worse for them in the coming years, as feminism grows and chokes them.
Point to note: There is also an NRI version called currycels—men in the diaspora who are angry at white women for rejecting them—and hate Indian women for being “ugly.”
The bottomline: A number of recent articles in the US have documented a new trend among American women—they have simply given up on (or lost interest in) getting married—or even dating. Adult working women would rather be independent than “settle.” Young women are advertising their status as “boy sober” or off-the-market. We now have a virtuous cycle: Female independence fuels male anxiety—which feeds the Manosphere—which, in turn, encourages women to opt for independence over men. Whatever your politics, a polarised human race is not a good outcome for any of us.
Reading list
New York Times (login required) is best on the mainstreaming of the Manosphere. This Newslaundry-The News Minute investigation looks at the state of the Indian Manosphere today—Mint offers a broader overview including attempts to battle toxic masculinity. This University of Michigan paper has lots of data on Men Rights Activism on X. Chinchu Chithrangathan in Qeois zeroes in on the Malayali Manosphere. This research paper by Finola Laughren looks at the debate between traditional and ‘dissident’ feminists over how to respond to this ‘masculinity crisis’. Lens offers a harsh takedown on the same.
