Detta kapitel analyserar fokuserar på Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), som är en de största nya mansrörelser som vuxit fram inom den så kallade “manosfären” under de sista decennierna. MGTOW kan beskrivas som en könsseparatistisk gruppering som interagerar primärt online och som vill avsäga sig all kontakt med kvinnor och inte minst från ett samhälle som de menar domineras av feminister. Kapitlet beskriver rörelsens grundläggande ideologi genom en analys av 14 böcker skrivna av MGTOW:s. Böckerna kan bäst beskrivas som självhjälpsböcker. Kapitlet visar på att MGTOW:s inte uttryckligen är ”antigenus”, utan snarast har en ambivalent förståelse av så väl genus som feminism. De talar sällan om en ”genusideologi” utan kombinerar en essentiell syn av kön och särskilt kvinnor med en i det närmaste konstruktionistisk förståelse av maskulinitet. De är positiva till feminismen eftersom den anses ha möjliggjort för män att ”gå sin egna väg” samtidigt som de ser den feministiska rörelsen som sin huvudfiende. Feminismen, inklusive genusvetenskapen, har indoktrinerat kvinnor att de är offer för ett patriarkat och på så sätt bidragit till ett kvinnocentrerat samhälle som hatar och skadar män. Vidare visar kapitlet på att MGTOW:s aktivism kan förstås som en form av manlig identitetspolitik som vill lyfta mäns ekonomiska rättigheter och inte minst att män ska slippa ta ansvar för kvinnor och barn. Denna identitetspolitik bygger dock inte på en kritik gentemot senkapitalism eller mot nyliberal ekonomisk politik, utan på en förbittring mot kvinnor, eftersom de anses utnyttja män för egen ekonomisk vinning. MGTOW-aktivisterna betonar mäns offerskap och ekonomiska sårbarhet, vilket för deras aktivism att likna den ”sårade anknytning” präglar andra identitetspolitiska rörelser. Avslutningsvis reflekterar kapitlet om varför offerskap används som strategi för MGTOWs: maskulinistiska politik, eftersom sårbarhet går emot traditionella föreställningar om manlighet, och visar på hur minskade och ifrågasatta privilegier upplevs som ett hot mot den manliga identiteten.

This chapter discusses how the big-boy bedroom has been depicted in Hollywood cinema since 2000 and how adult men still living with their parents are portrayed. Developmental psychologists and rearing experts have long argued that the teenage bedroom is necessary for proper gender and sexual development, but in Western – and, particularly, North American culture – it is also considered a place that adolescent males need to leave behind lest they be considered immature or even a moral threat. These concerns have been echoed by contemporary pundits across the political spectrum. Drawing on a queer temporality perspective, I call into question normative assumptions pertaining to personal development by demonstrating how some life trajectories may be bent by diverging from the expected life course. Rather than seeing cinematic representations of grown-up men living with their parents as an expression of men’s juvenility, irresponsibility, or avoidance of long-term relationships, I argue that the pathologization of big boys in their bedrooms may be masking broader economic patterns that disadvantage young men and their opportunities for social mobility. Understanding the obscurantist nature of these bedroom anxieties helps us illuminate young men’s forgotten realities and their economic struggles in a neoliberal age.

Men constitute the majority of violent extremists and terrorists, yet academic research in the field has largely overlooked the role of masculinity. This article explores how the relationship between masculinity and political and religious violent activism has been understood in a small but emerging field of critical men and masculinities studies on Jihadist, far-right, and left-wing extremism. Through a scoping review of academic literature published 2000–2022, it examines how masculinity intersects with radicalization processes, extremist ideologies, and political and religious violence across these movements in Western societies. It outlines the main contributions of this literature, including that despite their differing political views, extremist groups share common ideals of performing masculinity through street violence and militarized activism. However, while left-wing movements endorse gender equality, both far- right and Jihadist extremists contend that masculinity is threatened by feminism. These latter environments hold misogynistic views central to their ideologies while simultaneously accusing others of sexism and misogyny to justify their violent activism. The discussed literature also suggests that young men often become radicalized not primarily for ideological reasons, but as ways to prove their masculinity and deal with their experienced social and economic marginalization. Finally, the article proposes that the concept of “remasculinization” helps us understand how violent extremism may serve two purposes simultaneously: as a tool for individuals attempting to meet masculinity standards, and as a means for broader political projects aimed at maintaining male supremacy.

Fåniga fäder likt Rudolf i filmerna om Sune har blivit vanligare i film och TV under de senaste 40 åren. Vissa forskare menar att detta beror på en ökad jämställdhet (Scharrer, 2001) och att mannens auktoritet i familjen därmed har underminerats. Även om detta möjligtvis stämmer menar vi att Sunefilmerna också synliggör andra, om än närliggande, kulturella förändringar kring faderskap och maskulinitet. Framför allt pekar de på en ökad barncentrering i svensk familjekultur, där föräldrars engagemang i sina barn gått från att främst vara ett ideal som borgerskapets kvinnor omhuldade kring förra sekelskiftet (Frykman & Löfgren, 1979) till att bli en norm även bland män i de flesta samhällsskikt (Johansson & Klinth, 2008). Men Rudolf och de andra fåniga fäderna i Sunefilmerna synliggör också klassrelationer, eftersom faderskap i filmerna inte bara iscensätts i förhållande till normer om barndom och föräldraskap, utan också i relation till ekonomisk framgång. Filmerna visar på hur ekonomiska utmaningar individualiseras i en nyliberal kultur (Degen, Kleeberg-Niepage & Bal, 2022), vilket gör att svårigheter med att leva upp till finansiella normer för medelklassmaskulinitet framställs som den enskilde mannens karaktärssvaghet. Just eftersom fädernas försök att leva upp till dessa normer ständigt misslyckas, eller åtminstone riskerar att misslyckas, blir den vuxna manligheten i Sunefilmerna till ett komiskt spektakel som lockar till skratt.

Masculinity in far-right visual media is often portrayed through intimidating images of dominant, militant men. However, this study of affect in Nordic ecofascist visual communication shows that men are also depicted in meditative stillness surrounded by spectacular nature. Such ‘positive’ representations contrast with the typical far-right depictions of militant masculinity. This paper examines how positive affective communication shapes far-right masculinity, focusing on the trope we call ‘the contemplative man’. Inspired by affect theory and social semiotics, we analyse images from ecofascist Telegram channels that show men alone and together in nature participating in meditative and nature-connected practices. We demonstrate how the ‘contemplative man’ trope broadens the range of available far-right masculine identities and connects men with nature through nativism. We argue that nature in ecofascist discourse allows for ‘quieter’ expressions of masculinity, providing a space for men to experience intimacy, spirituality and pleasure, alongside the traditional militant persona. Such forms of masculinity visualize the ‘blood and soil’ complex through natural imagery depicting outdoor activities such as cooking, hiking, and resting in peaceful solitude. This discourse fosters a special bond between white, Nordic men and the land, offering them a place in the social hierarchy and a role within ecology on both sensory and ideological levels.

Critical masculinity scholars have recently suggested that men recognizing their own vulnerability, as well as the vulnerability of others, could be a tool for feminist masculinity politics. These arguments are inspired by feminist debates, particularly the work of Judith Butler, who stresses the importance of recognizing a universally shared vulnerability to counter masculinist discourses of sovereignty. Butler’s argument has been criticized for making vulnerability an ethical issue, rather than highlighting the social and material processes that render some bodies more vulnerable than others. While these feminist debates provide valuable insights, they often overlook men’s social vulnerabilities or see them as mere claims of unwarranted victimhood. This article aims to nuance discussions on vulnerability, by arguing that men’s recognition of vulnerability does not necessarily foster ethical responsiveness. To this end, the article analyzes books authored by activists from the manosphere group Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), demonstrating that while these authors embrace their own vulnerability, they simultaneously foster resentment, male identity politics and ideals of sovereign masculinity. Based on these findings, it is argued that feminist scholarship should seriously consider men’s experiences of social vulnerability and develop models that help men critique neoliberal politics and late capitalism, rather than merely encouraging men to recognize a shared ontological vulnerability.

This chapter explores fatherhood and adult masculinity in the Swedish children’s film series about Sune (1993–2021). The Sune films showcase a cultural shift towards child-centredness, where men are increasingly expected to be involved, emotionally present, and spend time with their children. However, fathers in the Sune films are depicted as foolish as they try to portray themselves as more involved fathers than they actually are. The foolishness of the fathers also reflects class dynamics, as fatherhood is enacted in terms of attempts to attain upper middle-class status, where fathers present themselves as financially successful. However, these performances lack substance and consistently fail, or are at risk of failing. As a result, adult masculinity in the Sune films becomes a ridiculous spectacle that evokes laughter. The films exemplify how financial challenges in a neoliberal culture are individualised, turning the struggles of meeting the standards of middle-class fatherhood into personal flaws or failures.

During the last decades, new forms of men’s rights activism have emerged, commonly referred to as the ‘manosphere’. This loosely connected, misogynistic online movement particularly attracts young men. Its shared ideology is the Red Pill, a neoconservative ideology that adopts essentialist notions of gender and sexuality, and selectively employs evolutionary psychology to support male supremacy. While the discourses of the manosphere have been mapped, little research exists on how and why young men join and leave such misogynist groups. This article contributes to critical youth and feminist scholarship by analysing the gendered dynamics of online misogynist radicalisation pathways. Based on narratives shared on a Reddit community for former ‘redpillers’, this article explores 30 young men’s experiences of entering and exiting the manosphere and details the essential role of vulnerability in these processes. The stories are synthesised into three phases to illustrate the paths in and out of the manosphere. 

Drawing upon the example of Annie Ernaux’s memoir A Girls’ Story (2020), and conceptualizing affect as working both within and beyond interpretive frames, this chapter presents three useful concepts when exploring affect and gender-based violence: event, atmosphere, and affective memory. Event refers to both dramatic experiences and the “silent cracks” that may materialize in connection with violence; both enable becoming-other and disintegration of sense. Atmosphere is a concept that stresses how collective, spatial moods may envelop both the violent event and the response from the relational setting. Finally, the chapter foregrounds the concept of affective memory to show how traumatic experiences may, at times, reside in our bodies and continue to affect us no matter how we comprehend the event.

This chapter explores the relationship between brain, media technology and young heteromasculinity by analyzing contemporary discussions about boys and pornography addiction. While concerns about these issues have been raised in many Western societies for some time, my starting point is recent debates in Sweden, where neuroscience has become a dominant way of framing pornography consumption. I further my discussion by analyzing Gary Wilson’s Your brain on porn, which has been influential to anti-pornography activists and young men desisting from pornography. Central to his claims about pornography addiction is plasticity, which presents the brain as becoming, but also reduces subjectivity and corporeality to mere brain processes. While pornography addiction discourse may make young men to passive recipients of mediated sex, constituting themselves as cerebral subjects also enables a neuro-based care of the self where they are encouraged to abstain from pornography.