The manosphere: the 'gamification' of behaviour and relationships
Manosphere influencers capitalise upon gaming frameworks and the use of online platforms like Discord to entice young men.
Collage, original image by Heather Behenna
The manosphere. An online, interconnected network of communities that promote extreme misogyny and male supremacy. It certainly has become a hot topic of discussion within the media, with authorities and feminists raising their concerns about the damaging effect this online hostility has on women. Television coverage like the 2025 crime show ‘Adolescene’ and the recent documentary ‘Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere’ have also aided in raising awareness to the impact of content spread by the manosphere on women.
Yet, how and why has this dangerous world and its harmful ideologies sprung into mainstream attention? Gaming. From the simplification of relationships, to how online spaces like Discord and Twitch have become entry points into the manosphere, the influence and impact of gaming offers an explanation.
Video gaming has inflated massively over the last few decades and is a digital universe that is constantly expanding and drawing more users in. Around 69% of males play online games in England and 93% of children in the UK play video games according to The Children’s Commissioner for England, meaning that a huge proportion of the population are engaging with these online spaces.
It is becoming increasingly clear that online platforms and gaming communities like Discord and Twitch do pose a risk of exposure to extremism. There are currently “90m+ daily active users” and “90% play video games” on Discord, making it one of the biggest online gaming platforms. Whilst initially appearing innocent, many servers on this platform feature ‘self-improvement’ or ‘dating’ forums. Here men are able to discuss personal issues like relationship problems or loneliness, where they can supposedly gain support and advice about how to become a ‘better version’ of themselves. Yet, when unmasked, these spaces are revealed as hosting extreme misogyny and aggressive views on women. In particular, manosphere-related groups of incels (involuntary celibates) and pick-up artists, who are heterosexual men that use a ‘game’ tactic to seduce women.
Man gaming, image courtesy of Ella Don, Unsplash, Nov 9 2021
In order to understand how easily accessible misogynistic content is on these platforms I conducted my own experiment. 4 minutes 59 seconds. That is how long it took me to come across a channel promoting hostility towards women on Discord. As a new user, if I am able to encounter this so easily, then your son, friend or partner seeking dating advice certainly will too. In fact, the Welsh Women’s Aid have found that 45% of young men regularly encounter misogynistic content online.
Dr Ben Rich, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and History at Curtin University and Director of the Curtin Extremism Research Network explains this connection further:
“When you look at the sort of case studies of people that get pulled into this, they’re often quite isolated. They often live very digital lives and don’t necessarily have a big circle of connections to the real world.”
“Young men in particular are so vulnerable to those types of approaches because they are now socialising more and more in those spaces”
“The real world, actually engaging with it, it’s slow, it takes time, it takes discipline or you can jump on your phone and be a part of an almost alternative reality world, which is very exciting.”
A study has found that two thirds of men feel that “no one really knows me”. The ‘easier’ option to find out what kind of man they ‘should become’ is turning to online gaming platforms where they can enter an alternate ‘game’ world where misogynistic influencers give them a clear set of rules to follow to achieve success. Having grown up in the digital age, for many young people an online route is less intimidating, yet there is little governance regarding where they receive this ‘life’ advice.
Manosphere influencers capitalise upon these gaming structures, enticing their audience with a framework that they are familiar with. Controversial figures like Andrew Tate and Myron Gaines (Fresh & Fit) consistently emphasise to their online audiences that women can be acquired and manipulated, leaving the man completely in power, much like the way in which a gamer may control a character. They suggest that behaviour can be reduced down into game-like rules and formulas, suggesting that there is a ‘cheat code’ to becoming the ideal man. By adhering to these ‘rules’ you will level up and receive your ‘reward’, like a relationship or a better physical appearance.
Dr Rich suggests that these influencers and their followers adopt the mindset of “how am I going to maximise my returns in that relationship?
How can i create “simplified ways of understanding everything up to, you know, basic human interactions”
“How do you gamify it?”
Game controllers, original Image by Heather Behenna
It can be argued as well that the reinforcement of rigid representations of gender within video games highly influence the views reproduced in the manosphere. Male characters are illustrated as strong, aggressive and dominant, whilst female characters take on supporting roles and are often highly sexualised. This means that from a young age men are being encouraged to view women as inferior.
Connor, an avid gamer and UAL student, however disagrees:
“I think maybe in the past they did reinforce gender roles but with society evolving, games have had to evolve and if anything games these days break the gender norms. Strong female protagonists are more normalised and character creations in certain games allow for you to select more genders or more options that they used to.”
Maybe the games themselves aren’t the problem, but it is undeniable that the manosphere has adopted the framework of games to radicalise their audiences. The question is what are spaces like Discord and Twitch going to do to reduce the accessible spread of misogynistic content on their platforms?