Latest news with #manosphere
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Fewer than half of young men believe abortion should be legal, poll finds
Fewer than half of young men believe abortion should be legal, far less than the general population, a shocking new poll has found. Just 46 per cent of 18 to 36-year-old men believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 71 per cent among the general population. Amid concerns about the rise of the manosphere - a growing online community of hypermasculine influencers - the Ipsos poll showed a stark drop in support for abortion in those aged under 36. Eight in 10 55 to 75-year-old men support abortion being legal in all or most cases, while three-quarters of 35 to 54-year-olds do. And, among those aged 18 to 36, more than a third of men think abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, the poll found. Labour MP Stella Creasy, a prominent campaigner in parliament for abortion access, told The Independent: 'Those [who are] complacent that abortion access is supported in this country don't understand the culture war is chipping away at all women's rights, including healthcare.' The polling comes before MPs vote this week on decriminalising abortion through amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill. Currently, abortions can legally be carried out within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in England, Scotland and Wales. They must be approved by two doctors, with the health professionals agreeing continuing with the pregnancy would be riskier for the physical or mental health of the woman than having an abortion. While this is what the law stipulates, in reality, abortions can be given, whatever the person's reasoning. But an amendment tabled by Ms Creasy would see abortion enshrined as a human right, as has been done in Northern Ireland. 'The only way we can stop women being targeted in this way and ensure they have safe and legal access is to designate abortion a human right as we have in Northern Ireland, and only new clause 20 to the policing bill will do that,' she added. A rival amendment tabled by Labour's Tonia Antoniazzi - which would mean women can no longer be prosecuted for terminating a pregnancy in England and Wales - is seen as more likely to get the backing of MPs. Ms Antoniazzi told The Independent the poll should serve as 'a reminder to male MPs for the vote on Tuesday that they can't just leave this work to women'. She urged colleagues to back her amendment and added: 'This is one poll. It's important to recognise that this poll, just like every other on abortion, shows that the country as a whole remains staunchly pro-choice.' But she said the findings were a 'clear example of the fact that women's hard-won rights can never be taken for granted'. It 'underscores why we must always keep fighting to preserve and advance them, as we do,' she added. It came as a row broke out in the final days before Tuesday's votes, with supporters of Ms Creasy's amendment accusing backers of Ms Antoniazzi of a campaign to get MPs to withdraw their support. Ms Creasy fears Ms Antoniazzi's amendment does not go far enough in enshrining and protecting the right to abortion, but the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said it has 'profound concerns' about the drafting of Ms Creasy's amendment. It called on MPs to withdraw their support for Ms Creasy's proposal and refuse to support it. Ahead of the votes, Ipsos found broad support for abortion access except among young men. The pollster also found that around half of voters think the current 24-week time limit for abortions is 'about right', with a quarter saying it is too late and just 4 per cent saying it is too early. Nigel Farage said last month that it is 'ludicrous we allow abortion up to 24 weeks' and that the law is 'totally out of date'. And, asked about illegal abortions, just over half of voters said the person who performed an abortion should face a penalty, compared with under a third who think the woman having the abortion should. Ipsos Pollster Kate Duxbury at Ipsos said: "While the majority of Britons support legal abortion, with seven in ten in favour, our polling reveals a significant fault line: less than half of young men aged 16-34 agree. 'This divergence, coupled with the fact that around half of Britons think the current 24-week limit is 'about right', highlights the complexities facing policymakers as they consider decriminalisation. It's clear that public opinion is far from monolithic, demanding a nuanced approach to this sensitive issue."
Telegraph
6 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
The novels every 16-year-old boy should read
It's hard to be a boy. A few years ago, such a statement would be unthinkable. After all, we were told we lived in an enlightened world where traditionally 'masculine' qualities – strength, fortitude, stoicism – were outdated, even toxic. No longer. Almost weekly, we get a new headline decrying the difficulty of being a young man. Andrew Tate, the manosphere, Adolescence: the crisis of boyhood, especially among poor, working-class boys, is well attested to. And last week the National Literacy Trust found that reading enjoyment for boys aged 11-16 is at the lowest level it has been for two decades; for girls, by contrast, it was slightly improved. What's to be done? One solution, of course, is to find books that boys want to read. By themselves, books won't teach you how to move through the world as a man. But there are few better places to start: books are invitations to other worlds, other minds. There is no better tool for empathy. My boyhood reading is what made me who I am today. As a teenager, my tastes were omnivorous and hopelessly pretentious. But the book which stayed with me the most was Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. As a young man, I was thrilled by adventure and the sense of possibility that lay off the edge of old maps and half-understood languages. Now though, as a slightly less young man, I turn back to it for its quiet, gentle humanity. For me, the process of growing up through – and with – books, has above all been about grasping one message: to be a great man is easy. But to be a good man? That is truly tough. The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier First published in 1956, The Silver Sword tells the story of three Polish children Edek, Bronia and Ruth, caught up in the chaos of the Second World War, who with the help of an older boy, Jan, set off across Europe in search of their vanished parents. It's a cracking adventure story, with improving lessons about courage, friendship and loyalty. It first enthralled me when I was about 14, enthralled my son and more recently enthralled my grandson. Mick Brown Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh When I was 16 and thinking of trying to get into Cambridge to read English my marvellous English master gave me a pile of novels, plays and poetry to consume, reaching far outside the English A-level course. Hidden among the heavy novels was a slim volume called Decline and Fall, by Evelyn Waugh. I had never read anything like it; jokes on every page, many of them quite offensive, ridicule of the aristocracy, the church, the penal system and above all schools, and all told in a relentless narrative drive that caused me to finish the book in two or three hours. I had within weeks read everything else that Waugh wrote, and I doubt I was the only youth on whom he had that effect. His style is magnificent and his appeal irresistible. Simon Heffer by Geoffrey Household I can imagine that many teenage boys would find the reckless, solitary narrator of Household's classic thriller as easy to identify with as Adrian Mole. Published a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War, the book begins with the protagonist taking it on himself to assassinate an unnamed foreign leader (recognisably Hitler); failing, he goes on the run and ends up hiding from his pursuers in a hole in the ground in the 'green depths' of Dorset. The classic novel of how to draw on your inner resources to survive, it's the most exciting, vicarious adventure I've experienced. Jake Kerridge The Short Stories of HG Wells by HG Wells Long before there was Black Mirror, there was HG Wells cracking out some of the weirdest, most thought-provoking stories ever written. They're short; they don't dwell too much on character development; and they twist the mind in all sorts of new directions. The Country of the Blind and The Door in the Wall are classics, but there's plenty more to grab the teen imagination here. Enjoyed Supacell on Netflix? Take a sip of The New Accelerator, the elixir that makes movement so rapid it can set your clothes on fire. Like superheroes? Check out The Man Who Could Work Miracles. These stories are the foundation stones of science-fiction. Whole universes await. Chris Harvey Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Don't let the fact that the title is a part of a Macbeth soliloquy put off the teenager in your life: Gabrielle Zevin's novel is really a paean to the magic of video games and young, mixed-sex friendships. The story of Sam and Sadie – childhood best friends who grew apart but rekindle their relationship and start a successful games studio – is modern, literary but accessible and, above all, an absorbing tale. While many parents fret about their children spending too much time playing video games rather than reading books, Tomorrow … could be an effective gateway to the joys of literature. I only wish that it had been published when I was a boy, rather than (as I did) reading it on my honeymoon. Liam Kelly The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut I haven't dared pick up a Vonnegut for 20 years. I fear he is one of those habits you probably ought to have dropped by your twenties, like picking your nose or minding who wins football matches. But I was a huge Vonnegut guy in my teens. Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions tend to be recommended but the one I really loved was The Sirens of Titan. It is so stuffed full of madcap ideas that no AI or video game could ever compete. Sadly I can't see how the plot would be relevant to readers today: it is about an astronomically wealthy man who finances a trip to Mars and imperils all of humanity. Ed Cumming by Adrian Tchaikovsky In my own teenage years, science fiction offered an exciting bridge to grown-up literature, with big ideas expressed in the fine prose of Ray Bradbury, Ursula K Le Guin, Philip K Dick and Kurt Vonnegut. Recently, one of my sons was having so much fun reading Dogs of War by contemporary British sci-fi star Adrian Tchaikovsky that I dove in myself. It's a mind-boggling story that extrapolates the genetically modified animals of HG Wells's The Island of Dr Moreau into a cyberpunk future not far removed from our own. The narrator is a heavily armed dog named Rex, and the tale addresses moral quandaries around artificial intelligence, slavery, animal welfare and the ethics of warfare with wit and pathos. My son and I have already gobbled up the excellent sequel, 2021's brilliant Bear Head, and eagerly await volume three, Bee Speaker (due later this year). Neil McCormick Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell 'It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen'. If that stark opening line doesn't hook them in, then doubtful readers can be assured that the ensuing pages contain the most perturbing futuristic vision of England ever written, a world of constant surveillance, ever-changing jargon, physical violence, sinister authority and the crushing of individuality; in short everything a teenage boy may feel is already the case but magnified to the nth degree. Any young reader will emerge from Orwell 's suspenseful masterpiece armed with a handy range of sharp political and philosophical concepts and inspired to devour more where that came from. Dominic Cavendish
Gizmodo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Gizmodo
The Manosphere Is at War With Itself Over Israel's Strike on Iran
From the outside, the manosphere often appears monolithic: a band of hyper-online masculinity influencers united in their war against feminism, political correctness, and what they see as the softening of Western civilization. Whether it's red-pillers, tradCons, incels, nationalists, or so-called alpha gurus, their message is usually loud, synchronized, and singular. But beneath the surface, the ecosystem is messy and fragmented. These men can't even agree on what a 'true alpha' is, other than to claim, for self-serving and brand-conscious reasons, that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are the ideal masculine archetypes. Now, a geopolitical crisis has cracked the whole thing wide open. For months, speculation swirled that Israel would launch a preventive strike on Iran. Inside the manosphere, this prospect was a source of simmering tension. Some influencers warned of a coming World War 3. Others tried to keep their feeds focused on fitness, feminism, and Western decline. But when Israel launched a large-scale airstrike on Iranian nuclear facilities late Thursday night, June 12, the fallout across the online masculinity space was immediate and brutal. The strike has exposed a bitter ideological rift. On one side are those rallying behind Israel, defending what they see as the values of Western civilization and Judeo-Christian supremacy. On the other flank are anti-interventionists, neo-traditionalists, and Muslim influencers who either support Iran or reject the idea of U.S. involvement in yet another Middle East conflict. What's unfolding is an identity crisis for a movement built on certainty and dominance. Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, is leading the charge on the pro-Israel front. A longtime vocal supporter of Israel, Shapiro went live on YouTube shortly after the strike, streaming for over an hour to explain 'Why Israel was 100% right to do it.' His post on X and Daily Wire's live feed have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of users. Shapiro, who is Jewish, has since flooded his feed with support for Israel and shared any coverage that reinforces the idea that Trump and other global powers are backing the attack. To his 7.8 million followers, the message is clear: Israel isn't alone. But while Shapiro affirms Israel's role in defending the West, most of the manosphere's power players are sounding the alarm, and they are not on his side. Tucker Carlson, with 16.3 million followers on X, used his newsletter to blast the Trump administration's response, particularly that of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio said the U.S. was not involved in the attack, a claim Carlson flatly rejects. 'The U.S. says it was 'not involved.' That's not true,' Carlson wrote on June 13. 'This could be the final newsletter before an all-out war.' He warned that Iran's threat to retaliate will escalate and that American citizens may be the ones paying the price. Charlie Kirk echoed the warning. With 5 million followers, Kirk warned that Iran could strike American military bases more easily than Israeli targets and argued that involvement in this conflict would be catastrophic. 'Dragging America into this war might be irrational and suicidal,' he wrote, comparing the situation to Ukraine. 'In any drawn-out war with Iran, America loses—even if we win.' Andrew Tate, the controversial influencer and recent Muslim convert, took a more ironic route. He reposted a thread skewering the language used to defend Israeli military actions. The post satirically lists 'rules' for discussing Israeli wars, including: 'Rule 1: Israel is never the aggressor' and 'Rule 14: The U.S. government has never lied about anything, ever.' Here's the thread he reposted. Myron Gaines, a fellow Muslim and co-host of Fresh & Fit, was more direct. 'I hope Trump doesn't make the same mistake Bush did and tarnish his legacy with more foreign wars in the Middle East that do NOTHING for the United States,' he wrote. Just hours before the strike, Matt Walsh, another Daily Wire personality, warned his 5 million followers that Iran poses no credible threat to the U.S. 'We do not need to get involved in yet another war in the Middle East for reasons that have nothing to do with defending our own nation,' he declared to his 3.7 million followers on X. The fallout is even more complex because many of these figures are stalwart Trump supporters. Now, they find themselves in opposition to Trump's foreign policy, or at least to the narratives being pushed by those closest to him. It's a splintering that no one in the movement seems to know how to manage. The divide is between entire ideological tribes that make up the masculinity ecosystem. The Christian nationalists find themselves at odds with pro-Muslim influencers. The Western traditionalists now clash with isolationist libertarians. The common ground that once united them—feminism bad, Trump good—is no longer enough. More fringe figures, like Nick Fuentes, are also weighing in, using the moment to amplify their openly anti-Israel stance. This rift matters. If Israel's strike escalates into a wider conflict, or if U.S. troops are drawn in, the fracture in the manosphere may become permanent. Influencers who have built empires on the illusion of ideological clarity are being forced to confront contradictions they'd rather ignore. Christian nationalists are struggling to square support for Israel with growing resentment among their base. Muslim influencers can no longer co-sign Western dominance while denouncing Western intervention. And libertarians are finding themselves surrounded by warhawks in their own movement. This is a test of what the manosphere really stands for when the stakes are higher than culture wars. What began as a fight about masculinity is now a battle over war, empire, and whose lives are worth defending. The grift is straining. The alliances are buckling. And no matter who wins this war, the brand may never be the same.
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- The Guardian
Society may have overestimated risk of the ‘manosphere', UK researchers say
Men who engage in the online 'manosphere' and the content of Andrew Tate are often able to express a 'strong commitment to equal treatment and fairness', according to research commissioned by Ofcom. Prompted by growing concerns about internet misogyny, researchers for the UK communications regulator followed the journeys of dozens of men through online content ranging from the US podcaster Joe Rogan to forums for 'incels' (involuntary celibates). They found that while a minority encountered 'extremely misogynistic content', many users of the manosphere were critically engaged, selective and capable of discarding messages that did not resonate with their values. They found it was far from a unified community: many participants felt the various subcultures under the manosphere umbrella were misunderstood, with extreme misogyny being grouped with benign self-improvement content. Several participants were drawn to it by its perceived humour, open debate and irreverence as well as connecting with views they found about traditional gender roles and family dynamics. 'This research does challenge the assumptions about the experiences and perceptions of individuals consuming manosphere content,' Ofcom said. 'Many of the participants expressed a strong commitment to equal treatment and fairness. They showed particular sensitivity to situations they perceived as unjust or discriminatory. This extended to issues specifically concerning men.' The report's author, Damon De Ionno, the managing director of Revealing Reality, who were commissioned by Ofcom to produce the study, said it 'suggests society has overestimated' the risk posed by the manosphere. It comes after rising violence against women and girls (VAWG) in England and Wales. Data published by the National Police Chiefs' Council in July 2024 found that about 3,000 VAWG offences were recorded by the police in 2022-23, an increase of 37% since 2018, with one in every 12 women a victim each year. Separate expert studies have found some evidence that the language of the manosphere can escalate into physical violence. A submission to parliament by a group of UK academics cited cases in which incels had gone on to commit offline acts of violence, including Elliot Rodger in Isla Vista in the USA in 2014 and Jake Davison in Portsmouth in 2021. The Ofcom study involved 38 men, and more misogynistic men may have declined to take part. Some potential recruits refused to take part, considering the government-appointed regulator to be part of the 'mainstream'. Perhaps the most impressionable group, boys under 16, were also not included. The study probed several manosphere subcultures, including 'red pill' (men who believe the world is unfair to men) and 'black pill' (those who believe unattractive men have very limited options for relationships) communities, incels, 'men going their own way' (MGTOW), men's rights activists, pickup artists and 'looksmaxxing' groups (where young men share tips about achieving chiselled cheekbones or 'hunter eyes' in an attempt to boost their sexual 'market value'), as well as topics surrounding self-improvement, masculinity and gender politics. Some of the content trawled for the study was obviously misogynistic, including posts condoning sexual violence against women. In other cases the misogyny was more ambiguous, such as self-help posts about boosting sexual success based on assumptions about women's sexual preferences. All of the men had engaged with content from Tate, the self-styled misogynist influencer who is facing charges in Britain including rape, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain, which he denies. But one participant said they viewed watching clips of Tate as 'entertainment' akin to watching a horror movie or playing Call of Duty, and the researchers said none of the interviewees had agreed with Tate's most extreme misogyny. Incel communities contained the most extremely misogynistic content, the Ofcom study found. They were notably full of messages promoting depressive and suicidal outlooks. 'Our research suggests society has overestimated the risk of the manosphere to women,' said De Ionno. 'It's not zero risk, but most of it doesn't have the power to radicalise people who are pretty discriminating and value-driven.' The research examined the attitudes of men who had become involved in several different corners of the manosphere from relatively mainstream content creators such as Piers Morgan to more niche groups such as those that talk about being 'red pilled'. One was the MGTOW movement, which discusses living without women. It has been described as misogynistic, but Ofcom's interviewees insisted it was not because it was about choosing to live without women, not hating them. One survey participant's pathway into the MGTOW part of the manosphere began with him being intentionally misidentified as a child's biological father, known as paternity fraud. Richard became involved in supporting other victims and came to believe that 'feminist ideology runs through' the courts system. He stopped dating and said: 'Once you've red-pilled about all this, you can't unsee it.' Another man, Matt, said the MGTOW influencers 'prey on any … amount of bitterness and resentment you have in your life from a negative situation'. Ofcom said: 'A minority of participants described encountering extremely misogynistic content online – with the most extreme examples more likely to be found on closed groups or among incel communities. 'These spaces were also notably full of messages promoting 'black pill' concepts of self-loathing and hopelessness, as well as depressive and even suicidal outlooks. Participants that were more socially isolated offline tended to have greater depth of engagement within these closed communities, and so may be at greater risk of adopting harmful views or mindsets, due to their strong group identity and the individual's wider vulnerability.'
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Fury over year 9 students in South Australia being asked to debate whether the tradwife movement is good for women
Year 9 students in South Australia are about to debate whether 'the 'tradwife' movement is good for women' – but the topic has sparked fierce discussion before the debates have even started. The topic will start being debated next week as part of the third round of Debating SA's competition, for which all schools in the state are eligible. After the topic was announced in May, some people questioned on social media whether the topic was appropriate, with some concerned that female students arguing in the affirmative would be making the case for their own subjugation. On social media women describing themselves as tradwives portray an old-fashioned, homemaking existence of baking and child rearing. But the tradwife movement has also become associated with anti-feminist sentiment, amplified by misogynist figures including Andrew Tate and those in the manosphere. Debating SA said it was shocked and surprised by the reaction. It took the unusual step of sending a clarification to schools at the weekend saying the definition it was using was synonymous with a stay-at-home parent. A spokesperson said when the organisation had researched the topic, the darker side of the trend did not surface. But once it heard about it, it wrote to schools to say it saw 'tradwife' as a portmanteau of 'traditional wife … someone who stayed at home, looked after the children, kept the house', without any concept of submission to the man of the house. The organisation said it had received abusive phone calls. The spokesperson told Guardian Australia people had been 'ringing up screaming, ranting, raving and carrying on' and accusing the not-for-profit of undoing centuries of female advancement. 'They were outside people who've got nothing to do with debating, who don't know how it works,' the spokesperson said. 'Debating is very formal … and not only do we not tolerate incivility, it never happens. If you follow the rules and regulations there's no room for rudeness. 'It's an intellectual, academic exercise bound up in civility, politeness and good manners. 'They didn't follow the rules!' A Queensland-based teen educator and author, Rebecca Sparrow, shared an email on Facebook on 5 June from a reader 'horrified' by the debating topic. 'Fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls and boys are being asked to argue that this is good for women … that women being subjugated is good,' the reader wrote in the email. Sparrow wrote that the term tradwife 'refers to women adhering to strict gender roles akin to a 1950s housewife who eschews a career in place of homemaking because that's her role/place'. ''Trad wife' is not code for stay-at-home parent,' she wrote, and later added: 'For those who think it's a great debate topic – we can agree to disagree on this one.' Sparrow later closed comments on her post, saying she did not have time to continually monitor them to 'ensure a war hasn't erupted'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion South Australia's education minister, Blair Boyer, told ABC radio on Wednesday that he had to ask his staff what the tradwife movement was. 'And I understand it comes with some controversy, but I think it's a balancing act in terms of debating topics, between having something which is of interest to the people doing the debating … and not having something which is, I guess, overly provocative,' he said. In May the Macquarie Dictionary said the 'controversial term sounds like an insult to some, and a badge of honour to others'. 'However you feel about it, a tradwife is a woman who has willingly embraced the duties and values of a wife in what some call a traditional marriage,' it said. Kristy Campion, a researcher into the far right, told ABC's Radio National in May that tradwife culture drew on 'cottage core' dreams of a simpler life. But she noted the far right had also linked it to 'white womanhood', anti-feminism, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-immigrant sentiments. 'We also see them fiercely opposing things like abortion or divorce,' she said. Speaking not about the tradwife debate but about debating in general, Fiona Mueller, a public policy researcher from the Centre for Independent Studies, said Australians had become 'strangely fearful' of debating, when it is something that 'is at the heart of our democratic process'. She said she worried that teachers had 'baulked' at teaching it because they were concerned about controversial topics. She wanted to see them confident in running debates as there was solid evidence they helped build thinking, reasoning, reading, researching, persuading and presentation skills. 'We need to rediscover the more considered gathering of information and coming to a conclusion,' she said. 'That is the single greatest responsibility of each generation – to set a good example for the next generation, and one of the things we need to set that example in, is respectful, thoughtful debate.'
