GRSJ224/toxicmasculinityonlinecommunities

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Toxic Masculinity and Misogyny in Online Communities

Courtesy of Soumil Kumar

Introduction

The presence of toxic masculinity and misogyny in online communities and their associated radicalising effect has received more attention in recent years due to high profile attacks such as the Elliot Rodgers killings in Isla Vista, and the Alek Minassian van attack in Toronto. The motives for these attacks and others like them, as well as the dissemination of misogyny online generally, comes from what Debbie Ging calls The Manosphere[1], a grouping of various reactionary anti-feminist online communities. This page aims to explain the origin of these communities, as well as to explore them individually.

Online Communities as Sources of Radicalism

Studying online communities and social media as sources of radicalism is not new, given the interest of government institutions, such as the NSA in the United States, to find and prevent terrorist attacks[2]; however, the same principles of radicalisation have implications for communities that are anti-feminist, or rooted in misogyny. Looking at bipartisan politics in the United States, a study conducted by Suhay et al. found that partisan political discussions online led to more polarization, with respondents identifying more strongly with their party and having less in common with those who differ politically[3]. The causes of this polarizing shift are the negative nature of discourse online, focusing primarily on attacking the opposition or demeaning its supporters, and the lack of emphasis on facts with a preference for opinions and use of illogical arguments. Concerning those who already hold more extreme beliefs, Bastug argues the lack of a filter present in mainstream media in the form of an editor, and the anonymity allowed by online interaction presents an opportunity to share these extreme beliefs without consequence[4]. Furthermore individuals in the process of being radicalised are more likely to seek out information and groups that support their ideas, avoiding voices of opposition, creating a personalized "echo chamber". This radicalisation can have tragic and deadly consequences, as in the examples above.

Communities of Note

The Men's Rights Movement

The Men's Rights Movement (MRM) is an anti-feminist movement concerned with the grievances (both real and imagined) of men, and focuses on issues such as circumcision, reproductive rights, criminal sentencing, and false rape accusations[5]. The MRM is different from other men's movements in that it originates from reactionary opposition to feminism, rather than being a politically advantageous force for change. J. Allan's view of the MRM is that "it has located its problem, namely women and feminism, but it has yet to outline a theory of its call to action"[6]. This reactionary origin plays out in MRM discourse by blaming men's grievances, such as the issues stated above, on women and the progress made by feminism. As suggested by Allan This mindset may stem from viewing Men's and Women's rights as a zero sum game[6], and by extension avoiding an intersectional view of gender dynamics. Ging observes that the ideal state the MRM feels feminism has transgressed, hegemonic masculinity, "as it relates to heterosexual gender relations"[1], and despite this view some gay men choose to support the MRM such as the vitriolic Milo Yiannopoulis. Although MRM discourse is confined primarily to the internet, there are more public appearances such as in the case of events organized by Mike Buchanan, the founder of the anti-feminist British political party ‘Justice for Men and Boys’[7].

Incels

The term Incel is a contraction of the words Involuntary and Celibate, coming from a Torontonian woman's website, Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project, started in 1997[8]. Originally intended to be inclusive to all genders, races, and sexual orientations (Alana being bisexual herself), over the past twenty years the mantle of Incel has come to represent a community of deeply resentful, violent and misogynistic men, who blame both women and feminism for their ills, and believe they are owed sex[9]. The online presence of Incels is concentrated primarily on the /r9k/ board of the notorious 4chan.org image sharing forum, as well as the r/braincels board on reddit.com[1]. Incels define themselves in opposition to 'Chads', sexually desirable men, and 'Stacys', sexually desirable women, asserting that an individual's physical attractiveness is determined from birth and unchangeable (many references are made to skull shape)[10]. This view of their situation as unchangeable likely exacerbates Incels' irrational resentment towards women, which is apparent in Elliot Rodgers' 141 page 'manifesto' posted online before his attack[8].

The Red Pill

The Red Pill, described as a philosophy by its adherents, can be most easily understood as the view that "the Western World has quietly become a civilization that undervalues men and overvalues women"[11]. The Red Pill community as an online presence takes the form of r/theredpill on reddit.com, created in 2010 by user redditredpill[11]. The community stipulates feminism has swayed the balance of power too far to the female end, claiming women are over privileged while men lack privilege in society. The philosophy of The Red Pill draws on academic literature primarily from the fields of economics and evolutionary psychology to justify its claims,[12] putting forth theories such as that women are inherently hypergamous (attempt to marry up the social ladder), and applying principles from economics to social interactions, putting men into value classes such as alpha, beta, delta etc[5], and asserting there is a measurable "sexual market value"[11]. This philosophy is often adopted by self proclaimed 'Pickup Artists', individuals who use red pill philosophy in an applied form called 'game' to attempt to seduce, or more accurately coerce or pressure as many women as they are able into sexual activity[12].

MGTOW

MGTOW is an acronym that stands for Men Going Their Own Way, and it is considered a splinter group from the MRM[5], sharing some characteristics. the MGTOW movement believes that men are more oppressed than women due to what they call 'gynocentrism', and that the solution to this oppression is to 'go their own way', which entails avoiding living with women in any capacity[13]. MGTOW laments the technological advents of things such as 'selfie culture' which supposedly brings out women's "narcissistic nature", as well as dating apps such as tinder[13]. Thus members of the MGTOW movement see themselves as victims of western society and thus refuse to take part in it.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ging, Debbie (May 2017). "Alphas, Betas, and Incels: Theorizing the Masculinities of the Manosphere". Men and Masculinities – via SAGE Journals.
  2. Crossett, Chuck (September 2010). "Radicalization: Relevant Psychological and Sociological Concepts" (PDF). PublicIntelligence.net.
  3. Suhay, Elizabeth, Emily Bello-Pardo and Brianna Maurer (November 2017). "The Polarizing Effects of Online Partisan Criticism: Evidence from Two Experiments". The International Journal of Press/Politics. 23 – via SAGE Journals.
  4. Bastug, Mehmet F. (October 2018). "Exploring the "Demand Side" of Online Radicalization: Evidence from the Canadian Context". Studies in Conflict and Terrorism – via Taylor and Francis Online.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Men's Rights Movement". The Rational Wiki.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Allan, Jonathan A. (March 2015). "Phallic Affect, or Why Men's Rights Activists Have Feelings". Men and Masculinities. 19 – via SAGE Journals.
  7. Whyte, Lara. ""Young men should be furious": inside the world's largest gathering of men's rights activists". Open Democracy.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Taylor, Jim (30 August 2018). "The woman who founded the 'incel' movement". BBC News.
  9. Reaves, Jessica (21 August 2018). "Mapping the Male Supremacy Movement: The Deadly Resentments of "Involuntary Celibates"". Ms. Magazine.
  10. Wynn, Natalie (17 August 2018). "Incels | Contrapoints". Youtube.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Love, Dylan (15 September 2015). "Inside Red Pill, The Weird New Cult For Men Who Don't Understand Women". Business Insider.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Van Valkenburgh, Shawn P. (December 2018). "Digesting the Red Pill: Masculinity and Neoliberalism in the Manosphere". Men and Masculinities – via SAGE Journals.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Liang Lin, Jie (2017). "Antifeminism Online: MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way)". Digital Environments and the Future of Ethnography: An Introduction – via JSTOR.