The Manosphere: Understanding the Offline Implications of Misogyny and Sexism Online
Manya Tewari | July 12, 2026
Growing up across India, Ethiopia, and South Africa, gender-based violence was never something abstract to me.
It showed up in everyday life. In how women moved through public spaces. In what was considered normal, and what was quietly accepted. Over time, I came to understand that violence does not just happen in isolated moments. It is shaped by systems, by norms, and by the ways we learn about gender and power.
That understanding is what led me to study Women and Gender Studies, and later public policy, with a focus on prevention.
But more recently, I have been thinking about where those ideas are being shaped now. Because increasingly, they are not just coming from the spaces we typically think about. They are coming from our screens.
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What we are seeing online, particularly through spaces like the manosphere, is not happening in isolation. It reflects a broader shift. Across different contexts, there is a growing backlash against gender equality, alongside a wider move toward more conservative ways of thinking about gender and power.
Online spaces are not separate from that shift. They are accelerating it. Content that promotes male grievance, anti-feminism, and rigid gender roles is not just present. It is being pushed, repeated, and normalized, especially among young people. A lot of how people come to understand masculinity, relationships, and power is now shaped online.
The manosphere is one example of this. It positions men as victims of gender equality and frames women as the problem. But what makes this content effective is how it is presented. It does not always appear extreme. It is often framed as self-improvement, dating advice, or confidence building, which makes it easier to engage with, and harder to question.
For young people, this matters even more. Adolescence is a stage where identity is still forming. Many boys are looking for direction, for belonging, for a sense of what it means to be a man. Right now, a lot of those answers are coming from online spaces.
Influencers position themselves as mentors. They offer clear and confident explanations of success, relationships, and masculinity. At the same time, platform algorithms prioritize content that is engaging and polarizing. So it is not just exposure. It is repetition, reinforcement, and normalization at a stage where beliefs are still being shaped.
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It is also important to recognize that this is not limited to men.
The rise of tradwife content shows how similar ideas are being repackaged and targeted toward women. Content that promotes submission, domesticity, and traditional gender roles is often framed as empowerment or personal choice. Because it is aesthetic and aspirational, it does not always feel political, but it still reinforces the same underlying ideas about gender and power.
Violence does not begin at the point of harm.
It begins at the point where harmful beliefs are normalized.
In Canada, there is increasing recognition that engaging men and boys is critical to preventing gender-based violence. There are strong programs already doing this work, but the system still leans heavily toward response.
Most resources are directed toward crisis support and victim services, which are essential. But prevention, especially early intervention with boys and young men, remains underfunded and inconsistent. At the same time, the spaces shaping these attitudes are evolving quickly. There is a clear disconnect between where the problem is growing, and where we are investing our efforts.
Through my capstone work on gender-based violence prevention, one thing became clear: we do not need entirely new solutions. Programs that engage men and boys, challenge harmful norms, and promote healthy relationships already exist. The issue is that they are not scaled, consistently funded, or adapted to current realities. Especially when it comes to digital spaces and younger audiences.
This pattern is not unique. Across systems, young people are often navigating environments that are reactive and under-resourced. Students learning in unsafe school environments and youth growing up in systems that do not reflect their realities are responding to structures that were not designed with them in mind. Online misogyny fits into that same pattern.
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If we are serious about prevention, we need to shift how we think about where gender-based violence begins.
It requires more than reaction. It requires reflection and investment. That means:
- Expanding prevention programs that engage boys and young men, and adapting them to digital spaces where attitudes are being shaped
- Integrating digital literacy and gender education earlier, so young people can critically engage with the content they consume
- Investing in long-term, coordinated prevention infrastructure, rather than short-term or project-based funding
- Ensuring programs are culturally grounded and accessible in remote and underserved communities
- Creating incentives and entry points for boys and young men to participate in prevention work through schools, sports, and peer-based models
Violence is not inevitable. It is preventable, but only if we treat it as something shaped long before harm occurs. Because by the time we see violence in the ways we traditionally measure it, the beliefs behind it have already taken shape.
Manya Tewari | OCIC Youth Policy-Makers Hub Member
Manya is a recent graduate of the Master of Public Policy program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, where she specialized in Women and Gender Studies. As an immigrant to Canada, she brings both a global outlook and a deep commitment to advancing equity, social justice, and inclusive governance. Her work spans government, international organizations, and community-led initiatives. Manya hopes to channel her research, advocacy, and lived experience into strengthening global solidarity and advancing inclusive, community-driven development.