Manosphere and online misogyny should be treated as public health issues, say UK experts

The manosphere and online misogyny should be treated by governments as a public health issue, in the same way as obesity or smoking, experts have said. Writing in the Lancet, the British authors of a new report argue that a co-ordinated response is needed, involving governments, schools, health services and community organisations, similar to the public-health response to tobacco use and ultra-processed food.“Men’s problems are framed [in the manosphere] as the result of feminism rather than structural conditions, and masculine identity is commodified through products and paid content that normalise and reinforce health-harming and performance-oriented masculinities,” the authors write.

The report defines the manosphere as “a diffuse commercial ecosystem and loose collection of online communities united by shared beliefs about masculinity, misogyny and male victimisation”. It goes on to outline how the manosphere has evolved into a highly lucrative online industry that makes money by promoting “the most extreme expressions…