Dangerous ideology Why young men are becoming increasingly misogynistic

Masculinism is spreading worldwide and has millions of followers on social networks. A new study sheds light on why this ideology is so popular with young men in particular.

Recent studies show a worrying rise in so-called masculinism among young people in various countries. This ideology propagates that masculinity is in danger. It rejects feminism and fuels extreme misogyny.

This trend has real consequences: In the UK, the police sounded the alarm this summer because young people are being radicalized by influencers. Where is this trend coming from? The French-speaking Swiss radio station RTS spoke to Alice Apostoly, co-founder of the Paris-based think tank "Institut du Genre en Géopolitique", about the phenomenon.

Apostoly explains that young women today have a more progressive understanding of relationships than their male peers.

Self-determination over one's own body

In the #MeToo movement, women have internalized their freedom of expression and benefit from new freedoms that are linked to the promotion of feminist issues and have long been taken for granted by men and their bodies.

For example, the "My body, my choice" movement ."My body, my choice" is a slogan that takes up the idea of personal bodily autonomy, integrity and freedom of choice. Physical autonomy means self-determination over one's own body without external influences or coercion.

Physical integrity, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy and self-determination. In the field of human rights, the violation of bodily integrity is considered ethically problematic and possibly criminal.

Finally, freedom of choice describes the ability to choose freely from at least two options without external influence.

Male discomfort is instrumentalized

Young men, on the other hand, are strongly influenced by pop culture and the views of their parents. "This difference leads to a certain discomfort that we can all feel during puberty," says the expert.

This unease is instrumentalized in social networks by making feminism and women's rights the scapegoat. Older influencers in particular play a dangerous role here by reinforcing young men's mistrust of women.

The algorithms of social networks, which promote violent content, further contribute to the spread of such ideologies. Apostoly points out that more people are searching for the "most violent, grotesque" content, which causes the algorithms to display this very content even more frequently.

Misogynistic people do "educational work"

Another factor contributing to the spread of masculinism is the lack of comprehensive sexual and emotional education in many countries. "I'm not sure if young men are being educated about gender equality by public institutions," Apostoly tells RTS.

As this important education is often replaced by social networks, hostile or misogynistic individuals are given the opportunity to take on this role.

The snowball effect triggered by the masculinist discourse is particularly alarming: first feminists are targeted, then LGBTQI+ communities and finally anti-racist discourse.

"Supporting any kind of hate speech inevitably leads to general hate speech," warns Apostoly urgently.

Researcher calls for support

To combat these developments, the researcher calls for the expansion of legal, political and financial resources to combat misogynistic statements on the internet.

In addition, large digital companies should be more strongly regulated and feminist and LGBTQI+ organizations should be better supported. It is also important to educate the population about masculinist discourse and misinformation.