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Swallowing and spitting out the Red Pill: Young men, vulnerability, and radicalisation pathways in the manosphere
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Child and Youth Studies.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3605-8664
Number of Authors: 22024 (English)In: Journal of Gender Studies, ISSN 0958-9236, E-ISSN 1465-3869, Vol. 33, no 5, p. 596-608Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

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. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. Vol. 33, no 5, p. 596-608
Keywords [en]
manosphere, masculinity, radicalisation, red pill, vulnerability
National Category
Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology) Peace and Conflict Studies Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified Gender Studies
Research subject
Child and Youth Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-221295DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2023.2260318ISI: 001070554300001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85171971662OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-221295DiVA, id: diva2:1798490
Available from: 2023-09-19 Created: 2023-09-19 Last updated: 2025-04-10Bibliographically approved

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Gottzén, Lucas

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