The Manosphere Isn't About Men. Or Women

[Lila9]

22 hours ago, something_else said:

I usually agree with your points, but I think this one is being overthought a bit. It very clearly is a pipeline, and it disproportionately affects vulnerable kids.

In particular, I think this is where the framing goes off:

I don’t think that implication is there at all.

What’s actually happening is much simpler. Young boys, often in the 8–16 range, are being pulled into algorithm-driven content loops that progressively normalise these ideas. At that age, their ability to critically evaluate what they’re seeing is limited. It’s not that they have zero agency, but their ability to make an informed choice is heavily constrained.

It’s very similar to how young girls are influenced into makeup and beauty standards early on. We don’t describe that as a fully independent “choice” because it clearly isn’t. The same dynamic exists here, just in a different direction.

As they get older, I agree more with your point. At some stage, people are responsible for their views and actions. But early exposure matters, and it’s exactly why this content targets younger audiences so aggressively.

Not directly, but it plays a role. Isolation reduces social feedback, which makes it harder to develop empathy and calibrate behaviour. That doesn’t excuse anything, but it does increase the risk of someone adopting unhealthy views.

Because, in many cases, it’s upstream of the problem. A lot of harm towards women ultimately comes from men who have developed unhealthy views early on.

If the goal is to reduce that harm, then creating healthier men isn’t excusing behaviour, it’s addressing the root cause.

This article applies to young men from 18–20 to 35–40. They are called "boys" because society sees them as boys; it infantilizes them and does not hold them accountable.

The point is that young women also go through isolation and even more (oppression, discrimination, violence) and still do not behave like those men, which implies specific indoctrination in those men to hate, devalue, and objectify women.

Actual boys and girls (children, underage) are obviously vulnerable and do not have the mental capacity to think critically about it. But young adults do.

[Joseph Maynor]

I feel like the Feminine in general is more focused on relationship, and the Masculine is more focused on the individual; and this creates a natural conflict in reality that we face every day.  

Edited 8 hours ago by Joseph Maynor

[something_else]

On 4/18/2026 at 1:56 PM, Lila9 said:

This article applies to young men from 18–20 to 35–40. They are called "boys" because society sees them as boys; it infantilizes them and does not hold them accountable.

Many of these men at 18-20 have already been sucked into the pipeline when they were like 12. It's hard to blame them when they've been bombarded and brainwashed from such a young age. At that point helping them is a question of de-programming, not blame.

For 35-40 year olds, they should absolutely know better. On that we agree. I know a dude who is that age who's super into the manosphere and he is an asshole, he gets no sympathy from me.

On 4/18/2026 at 1:56 PM, Lila9 said:

The point is that young women also go through isolation and even more (oppression, discrimination, violence) and still do not behave like those men, which implies specific indoctrination in those men to hate, devalue, and objectify women.

Yes, it is indoctrination, that is my point as well. You originally argued that it isn't indoctrination and that it is an active choice from these men. If I'm honest I'm struggling to understand what your point is overall here because this sentence is a complete 180 from your original argument.

Quote

Actual boys and girls (children, underage) are obviously vulnerable and do not have the mental capacity to think critically about it. But young adults do.

Yes, but it is not always reasonable to expect young adults indoctrinated from the age of 12 or younger to be able to question and think critically about whatever they were indoctrinated with. It is buried deep inside of them by that point. Some will escape by themselves, many will not without outside help and support.

Your original argument was that this is not a pipeline and that these men are fully responsible for their own choices, which if we are talking about 25+ year olds I think is somewhat valid. But bear in mind that the majority of manosphere 'consumers' are under 25. The 'producers' in the manosphere primarily prey on tweens, teens and broken men.

[Lila9]

2 hours ago, something_else said:

Many of these men at 18-20 have already been sucked into the pipeline when they were like 12. It's hard to blame them when they've been bombarded and brainwashed from such a young age. At that point helping them is a question of de-programming, not blame.

For 35-40 year olds, they should absolutely know better. On that we agree. I know a dude who is that age who's super into the manosphere and he is an asshole, he gets no sympathy from me.

I don't necessarily blame them. Blame is a difficult word.

But I think that once men mature, they should be held accountable.

Usually, the brain completes its development at 25.

From 18 to 25, I agree that men are still too young and vulnerable, but they are not as clueless as children.

In the past or in the Global South, people at that age got married and built families. People already have a driving license at those ages, they are handling guns, serving in the military, drinking alcohol, etc.

Women are accountable to think critically too, have better standards, develop their intuition, and be more careful regarding men or even women who uphold the patriarchy and harm them (which is what feminists are trying to do), but there is only so much they can do without men taking accountability as well.

2 hours ago, something_else said:

Yes, it is indoctrination, that is my point as well. You originally argued that it isn't indoctrination and that it is an active choice from these men. If I'm honest I'm struggling to understand what your point is overall here because this sentence is a complete 180 from your original argument.

I don't remember arguing that.

However, I do think that for adult men, since they are no longer children, this becomes an active choice not to take accountability and to remain in this dark loop.

I understand that it is very convenient to avoid accountability in this convenience culture, especially if it involves looking in the mirror and admitting that they were misled, misinformed, and caused real harm because of it.

It is difficult to convince people that they were wrong, but without the courage and willingness to realize it and heal from it, nothing will change.

We have reached a point where someone has to do it in order for things to move forward. Otherwise, men will keep complaining about loneliness and alienation from women and become more radical in their hatred, and women will keep complaining about mistreatment from men and become more radical in their hatred.

This can last for decades or even centuries without anything being truly resolved or changed.

Kindly note that the post I shared earlier is an article from someone else, not me.  

But I agree with its general idea of holding men more accountable. If there is anything specific in this article that you don't agree with or want to discuss, let me know.

2 hours ago, something_else said:

Yes, but it is not always reasonable to expect young adults indoctrinated from the age of 12 or younger to be able to question and think critically about whatever they were indoctrinated with. It is buried deep inside of them by that point. Some will escape by themselves, many will not without outside help and support.

Your original argument was that this is not a pipeline and that these men are fully responsible for their own choices, which if we are talking about 25+ year olds I think is somewhat valid. But bear in mind that the majority of manosphere 'consumers' are under 25. The 'producers' in the manosphere primarily prey on tweens, teens and broken men.

I see, but they also can't blame women for all their toxic behavior and keep spreading hatred, which results in real harm for women (and other men). This continue the cycle.

They should know and understand that it has consequences.

Again, men aged 18–25 are not fully mature and do not have the same critical thinking skills as fully grown adults, but they are not children either. If we can trust them with cars and guns, we can trust them with treating other fellow humans better. 

While we can't expect from them the same level of critical thinking we expect from adults, it doesn't mean that we should be okay with all their harmful biases going unquestioned.