To me it seems like a huge reason for this is social media and conservative influencers in addition to worsening economic conditions. Social media platforms have way too much control over the content people consume and there’s also a huge amount of money being pumped into right-wing and manosphere content specifically because it helps rich people stay in power.

So what I’m saying is, the problem is capitalism.

Might take a while to fix that though and I agree that teaching empathy and compassion are a good start. Also critical thinking. Parents should probably be aware what content their children are watching and help them engage with it critically. Outright bans probably don’t work.

I think that better education would actually help with most of the world’s problems.

mixed gender third places

For our family we had to keep an eye on his YouTube consumption, it slowly drifts from gaming into the manosphere. A couple of times we had to have talks with him and ask him about what he was watching and if that’s the way he should treat people he cares about. He’s 24 now and doing fine but we really had to stay on top of it.

Find out who’s infecting them with misogyny and slap them to perdition on live streaming.

Peer pressure. They need to be called out by someone they relate to/respect.

They already don’t respect women, feminists, PoC, LGBTQI+, elders, so we can’t do anything except ostracise them.

Eventually enough of them will ask themselves AITA?

Remove access to the toxic manosphere, good access to therapy, exposure to people of different genders (under supervision, with consequences for misogny), and remind them that socioeconomic disparity is caused by capitalist oligarchs not paying their due share.

I have my own experiment going: real emphasis on empathy, kindness, and care for others. Exposure to diversity of people, thought, and experiences. Strong relationships that foster communication and love.

Target the manosphere archetypes and they just become martyrs. Screaming for your rights as a woman unfortunately does little to convince those already too far gone. Ostracizing misogynists just leads to misogyny support groups that are self-reinforcing. That said, I believe in the power of shame.

It’s going to be hard and it’s going to take a long time. Respected men will have to take a visible stance, champion women’s voices, and promote compassion - even for people who suck. Kids need more spaces outside the internet to hang out, too, and those are slowly being erased since free third spaces don’t have a profit margin. Having diverse friends is a great way to learn compassion for diverse people, but equally important is recieving compassion from diverse people.

god i wish i knew. teaching them empathy and compassion would be a good start. it would be especially effective if that came from adult men they respect, given the misogyny might obstruct them receiving that lesson from women. helping them to understand and express their emotions in a healthy way would also help. i was socialized as a boy and the only emotions i was allowed to express were anger and happiness but not too strongly or too often. i suppose im saying the fault lies with adult men ultimately. what else is new…

This is one of my biggest concerns with my sons. I plan on talking about it often and I’m going to keep an eye on what kind of content they consume. The older one is turning 20 this month and he’s doing great. I hope it goes the same way with the younger one and I’ll have big brother there to help.

I think a lot of the guys who end up in that sphere are struggling with loneliness and severe self esteem issues. You can’t help them all, but everytime you demonize men’s emotions and mock the male loneliness epidemic, you will raise the risk of creating new enemies. Nobody likes to be treated like they are the enemy out of the gate, when they most likely are hurting really bad inside and only need the right nudge to go in a better direction.

I think it is very common for people in general to fall for extreme views when they are hurting, but most people find a way to course correct if they have a support system around them. Those who don’t have that are truly vulnerable to going down the rabbit hole.

It’s kinda like trying to help someone who is stuck in an abusive relationship. You go in and tell them their partner is shit and if they stay with them, then they are shit too. The success rate of getting someone away from their abusive partner by using that tactic, I assume is close to zero. It is hard. The deeper in with the abuse they are, the harder it becomes to help them, and I think that’s why it’s usually easier to just give up on people and call them names rather than actually trying to be empathetic to their situations.

I have listened to a lot of people who either are or were incels at some point and it is far from all of them who are terrible, irredeemable monsters. Especially the teens. If I was supposed to be held responsible for every brain dead idea I had as a teen, then it would be a pretty shitty life. Especially if I was expected to atone for everything hurtful I said or did when I was depressed and being abused by people I thought wanted the best for me.

I feel like everyone gets further by showing compassion and care and getting to the root of what can turn someone toward cult-like environments. Extreme loneliness, possible mental health issues and a failing support system is key in most situations and if we are willing to be that for someone and to show them that they don’t have to atone for life for things they did when they were in a very dark place, then we will probably see positive results.

Target the grownups. These values doesn’t selldom come from home.

Parents have to attend training classes with the teens that attack women/girls. Eat a few Saturdays and watch it start to fade

Its a combination of worsening economic conditions and worsening culture, people are desperate to find someone to blame for all their issues that doesn’t require them to actually make significant change or work hard. We need to push people away from this mentality towards a more constructive one.