You aren’t wrong in your assessment at all. But the influence they do have on their particular audience is outsized.
I did too. Apparently it’s not a manscaping convention held at The Sphere in Vegas.
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I watched this film over the last two days. Nothing surprising about it, really. I’m familiar with the content they put out and it’s nothing more than self-help grifting in a new package geared at young men in the age of social media. To the extent that the more misogynistic content influences young men, it’s hard to say, but one influencer in particular (Justin Waller IIRC) didn’t strike me as all that problematic, certainly not toxic. He works hard and monetizes his lifestyle, keeps his wife and kids mostly clear of it, and they have an agreement as to which roles belong to whom and are not exclusive in their physical relationship. He’s honest and up front about how he lives his life and the arrangement he has in his personal life, and motivates young men to do the same. No issues there.
Sneako and the others in the film, just Kardashian level vapid nothing clickbait content farmers undeserving of this much attention.
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Coincidentally I just ran across this article.
The University of Florida kicked its College Republicans chapter off of campus over the weekend over a photo of a member performing a Nazi salute, and now the organization is suing the university.
The UF College Republicans filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday, alleging that their First Amendment rights were violated. The salute photo had circulated on social media, along with photos of the group’s members with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes and far-right podcaster Myron Gaines.
Gaines was among the podcasters featured in the film. I’d not heard his name previously. Being a Gen-Xer I may underestimate the influence these people have on the HS/college age generation, particularly on the right side of the political spectrum. Podcast bros do tend to have a right leaning audience generally.
Louis does a masterful job of dismantling the fragile shells these giant babies inhabit. My favourite moment was watching one guy’s mother lecture him on his housekeeping, and he’s a deferential little boy.
Definitely worth a watch!
Finished it this weekend. I didn’t find it entertaining or insightful. The manboys he interviewed were unremarkable and vapid in every way except presentation.
Jimmy Carr is a comedian with views, this side of the Atlantic.
Three minutes worth listening.
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Overall, a reasonable take.
Especially when the alternative is nothing or following f*cking monsters.
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Take this for what it’s worth, but this woman’s perspective on dating today in the era of social media and specifically these manosphere influencers echos so many similar anecdotes I’ve seen in news reports and social media, and from within the genre itself. Antagonistic, hostile, misogynistic, to the point where the social fabric of older teens and twentysomethings are dating, drinking, socializing, and having sex at rates far below Gen-X and Millennials at the same ages. There seems to be a not insignificant overlap between the Manosphere and incels online, which is bewildering.
People with daughters in this age range, teens to thirties, would be in a better position to say to what degree they’ve experienced this. My boys are 16 and 13 and girls aren’t on their radar whatsoever. At those ages it’s all I thought about.
Maybe wait to date a guy until you know he’s decent?
Just saw it, excellent film, a great look behind the scenes of this massive scam industry and the poor dumb souls that worship these scammers and their totally counter productive approach to life and success. The doc is definitely worth a watch if you follow the “know thine enemy” philosophy.
It seems clear that all of these influencers are mentally unwell, some with extremely brutal childhoods. And, unfortunately, many of their followers are in similarly bad mental straits.
I just watched this. I have a couple of thoughts on this:
1 - The three guys covered believe in exactly one thing: making money by pretending to be whatever they need to pretend to be to make money.
It’s almost like the circular grift of prosperity gospel, or motivational speakers. Are they successful? Yes. But their success isn’t based off of accomplishing anything other than to get their audience to give them money because they are successful.
2 - Yes, they get women, but I’ll contend that they aren’t getting women because of their beliefs.
They get women for a few reasons:
- They have money.
- They don’t have any glaring deficiencies like being obese or very awkward.
- They aren’t especially selective.
A young guy may watch them and think, “Oh wow, he’s got a relationship where he gets to hook up all the time, and his wife lets him, but she’s not allowed to sleep with anyone.” Keep in mind, a big piece of that puzzle is that they will only marry someone who will accept those terms, and there really isn’t a shortage of women out there who will enter into that kind of relationship with a rich guy.
The one least noxious character claims to have made his bank in construction.
Maybe he did.
But regardless, he now makes it by being an online character.
That’s not to say that any of it is disingenuous, but more “self feeding,” if that makes sense. I find, generally speaking, that people who chase wealth and fame will believe whatever reinforces that.
If you asked my former boss Mr. H. how to solve an engineering problem, he could convince himself that 2+2=5 if that lead to a promotion and 2+2=4 didn’t. Like he would actually believe it because all he cared about was his image at work.