In “Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere,” released March 11, Theroux explores how the online manosphere, where male influencers promote “alpha” lifestyles and extreme masculinity to young, impressionable men, builds fanbases centered on wealth, masculinity, fitness and shock value.
The documentary explores “looksmaxxing,” an online trend led by influencers such as “Clavicular,” where young men strive to become more attractive, sometimes through harmful or extreme methods such as peptides and bone smashing.
Theroux interviews and follows another influencer, HSTikkyTokky, whose real name is Harrison Sullivan, whose platform features dating advice and skills in “picking up” women.
In his interview with Sullivan and other manosphere influencers, Theroux sees a pattern of men who describe “waking up” to the fact that women are moving away from traditional roles.
They express this dislike by promoting that women should not be able to vote, that men have a right to multiple sexual partners, while their female partners have to remain monogamous, are not entitled to their own opinions and should be responsible for childcare and house cleaning.
These “alpha male” behaviors are designed to undo strides that women have made towards equal rights.
In addition to misogyny, many in the manosphere also promote antisemitism, racism and homophobia.
Myron Gaines, the host of the Fresh & Fit podcast and manosphere influencer, visited Ohio University in March, where he greeted the students with a Nazi salute before saying, “Number one, women are stupid, Jews control America and Blacks are criminals,” according to Forward, a Jewish non-profit, which first reported the story.
Theroux interviewed another prominent manosphere influencer, “Sneako” (Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy), whose anti-semetic rhetoric aligns with a conspiracy that Jewish intellectuals created LGBTQ+ people and feminism to weaken men.
While it is tempting to simply laugh about looksmaxxing and Clavicular edits, we shouldn’t forget the harmful influence that these men have on boys and young men.
According to a recent survey from King’s College London and Ipsos, Gen Z men (18- 29) often hold more conservative views on gender roles than older generations. A frightening 31% of Gen Z men agree that a wife should “always obey her husband,” compared to a 13% of baby boomer men and 21% of Gen X men.
While these numbers may be disheartening, some young men are challenging the manosphere. Hasan Piker, a left-wing political commentator and streamer, has voiced his strong anti-mansophere comments in his live streams.
In an NPR interview, Piker said that he believes the left needs to address the loneliness and alienation of young men.
“Young men who are already predisposed to reactionary tendencies find themselves swept away,” said Piker. “Desperate for a sense of community, desperate for an identity, they find themselves in right-wing circles. And they unironically wear it as a brand where they think that being politically right-wing is a way to demonstrate your machismo, is a way to demonstrate how masculine you are.”