After Adolescence: time to get real about how we’ve misunderstood the manosphere

By Ewan Marsedn, Senior Researcher - April 16, 2025

The release of Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne’s four-part drama, Adolescence, just over a month ago sparked a national conversation about the growth of online misogyny, and the so-called ‘manosphere’.

While renewed attention and debate are much needed, an excess of opinion and commentary has neglected or entirely missed key nuances and insights about this phenomenon.

At The Good Side, we have been researching the manosphere for over two years, diving into its broad network of online spaces, influencers, content, and narratives. We’ve come to understand the different on-ramps that draw young men into manosphere content, and that not all engagement signals outright ideological alignment.

Here are five major angles that need more attention:

1. The manosphere is a mainstream, not a fringe issue

Our research showed us exactly how big this issue has become, and since then it’s only grown in mainstream culture, yet public debate continues to treat the manosphere as an extreme subculture or ideology. From the election of Donald Trump, to the rise of tech bros in popular culture, and the resurgence of the strongman leader in contemporary politics, the manosphere’s ideals are not just on the margins, they’re shaping cultural and political power structures worldwide.

By continuing to position these ideologies as radical outliers, an anomaly to prevent, or a crisis to fight, we risk missing how deeply ingrained they’ve become. Instead of reacting to crises as they occur, interventions need to proactively understand and address the root of young men’s discontent fuelling these phenomena. Labelling the manosphere as extreme or objectionable only further alienates those drawn to it, reinforcing the validation and voice they have found within these spaces.

2 . Young men aren’t a monolith and neither is the manosphere

From dating and fitness hacks, financial advice, to overtly regressive and misogynistic narratives on masculinity, gender, and society, the manosphere casts a wide net. Our research shows that these messages reach young men across class, ethnicity, and educational attainment but certain issues and topics play differently for men of different groups.

Narratives around success, for instance, often strike a chord with young men who see few real routes to upward mobility. When conventional opportunities feel out of reach, the promise of quick wealth and self-made status becomes more seductive. But that path often leads into corners of the manosphere that reinforce rigid, hierarchical ideas of what it means to be a man. Ignoring why certain strands resonate over others risks homogenising young men and their experiences, limiting understanding of its primary drivers.

3. The digital ecosystem, beyond gendered narratives

The appeal of the manosphere isn’t solely about gender, it’s also a symptom of broader digital life and the pressures young people face online. Responses to Adolescence rightly focused on the dangers of online misogyny, but failed to engage with the deeper anxieties not squarely tied to gender that drive young men into these spaces: perceived feelings of inadequacy, social comparison, and the demand for self-optimisation, they experience online.

The presence of these vulnerabilities coupled with the kinds of online spaces and content young men engage with can intensify feelings of inadequacy, whether through unattainable body standards, financial insecurities, or perceived social hierarchies. The manosphere provides a sense of structure and certainty, in an at times, overwhelming digital landscape.

4. A crisis of belonging among young men

Much of the discussion around Adolescence treats the manosphere as a moral failing rather than a crisis of belonging. While focusing on extreme cases is necessary, this approach neglects the more insidious everyday struggles that pull young men in: social isolation, unrealistic body image pressures, and a longing for guidance.

The conversation subsequently needs to shift from alarmism to pragmatism. How do we provide spaces and solutions that offer young men identification and empathy with their challenges before they reach a tipping point and enter the deep end of the manosphere? How do we create alternatives that are as compelling as the manosphere without replicating its harmful elements?

5. Young men are absent from their own conversation

Most public discourse about the manosphere takes an outside-in approach, politicians, researchers, and concerned adults diagnosing the issue without speaking to the young men at its centre. But research consistently shows that interventions are far more effective when young people feel heard and have an opportunity to co-create them.

Manosphere influencers have mastered the art of speaking directly to young men’s experiences. Meanwhile, mainstream initiatives struggle to offer narratives that feel relatable or trustworthy. More top-down approaches won’t work; grass-root interventions to engage young men in defining the challenge and solution according to them will be more effective.

Where do we go from here?

The spotlight Adolescence has put on the manosphere and our collective response is overdue, but if we truly want to move the dial, we need to rethink how we frame the issue and tackle it head on.

This isn’t about fixing young men or condemning them, it’s about understanding the unmet needs and issues pulling young men toward these spaces as well as re-examining our collective beliefs, judgments, and practices when it comes to the manosphere.

Too often masculinity is framed as bad (toxic) or good (a vague moral ideal). That binary leaves little room for meaningful engagement with why young men engage with the manosphere or what young men value about being a man - and the wider conversation hasn’t yet offered a compelling alternative vision of masculinity built around this.

If we’re serious about change, we need to stop treating the manosphere as a niche problem to be solved and start engaging with young men on their terms, before they seek solutions elsewhere.

Find out more about our groundbreaking research with Movember here.

And the full report is on Movember's site here.

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