The Manosphere is Not Manly.

At least in the Andrew Tate form.

Andrew Tate was arrested again on 38 sex crime charges.

Thank God.

Andrew Tate is at the center of the Manosphere. If you're unfamiliar, the Manosphere is online personalities who speak to young men. It works as an umbrella term for anyone who has a message for men. The work I do here would be considered by many to be part of the manosphere generally and so would other channels like Ad Aternum, The Art of Manliness, Catholic Manhood, and many others. But most of the time when people are talking of the manosphere, they are talking about people like Andrew Tate.

According to UNWomen.org:

The manosphere is an umbrella term for online communities that have increasingly promoted narrow and aggressive definitions of what it means to be a man – and the false narrative that feminism and gender equality have come at the cost of men’s rights. These communities promote the idea that emotional control, material wealth, physical appearance and dominance, especially over women, are markers of male worth.

The manosphere targets male audiences on social media, podcasts, gamer communities, dating apps and just about all digital spaces. Many participants engage with it while searching for forums to openly discuss or learn about men’s issues. But while content may appear focused on men’s self-improvement, many of these groups promote unhealthy behaviors, like instructing boys and men to build themselves up by putting others down.

You’ll notice in their description that feminism is not to blame for the rise of the manosphere which is interesting for two reasons. One, every man in the manosphere despises feminism openly. Two, the rise of feminism claims women were robbed of their rights by men. Take the most extreme of feminists and you’ll find an equally extreme man in the manosphere.

These are two groups that despise each other.

When the only two sexes in the world begin to despise each other and look at one another with contempt, we are in a bad place.

Describing the ideologies behind the manosphere, the UNWomen.org,

While groups within the manosphere do not all share the same beliefs, many are united in their misogyny – a prejudice and resentment of women and girls. In many ways, the manosphere is descended from a long line of anti-feminist movements.

These major manosphere groups spread myths, pseudoscience and lies based on gender:

• Involuntary celibates (incels): believe that men are entitled to sex, and women purposefully deprive them of it. Extremist incel culture promotes rape and assault and brings together other ideologies, including racism and homophobia. Incels have been linked to acts of mass violence.

• Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs): often take an academic tone to claim that feminism and women’s rights – to vote, to education, to leadership positions – have disadvantaged men. MRA preachers suggest society is gynocentric, that is, dominated by feminine interests.

• Pick up artists (PUAs): teach members how to coerce women into sex and mock the idea of sexual consent.

• Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) movement: suggests society is rigged against men – and that it is best to avoid women, and even mainstream society, altogether.

I think it needs to be made clear for all my readers that one does not have to be a feminist to feel concern about the influence of the manosphere. And one does not need the ideas of Andrew Tate to be a man.

I, like many of my male counterparts, think feminism has done more to destroy femininity than almost anything else. Others have written far better pieces on that particular topic than I could. There have been several articles written in the last year about the political divide between men and women. We live in the same world, and worldviews are being segmented now, primarily by sex. We are about to have a country full of conservative/traditional men of varying degrees and a country full of progressive/liberal women of varying degrees whose worlds are bound to collide. Children not conceived are already at risk of being born into a divorced household.

I recommend two authors:

Johann Kurtz - he has three essays on this topic that are fantastic. Here is one of them.

Carrie Gress - She is the editor at Theology of Home and author of the book “End of Woman”.

So while feminism, as it is understood as a political and social movement, is destructive, UNWomen are spot on in their description of much of the manosphere. They do coerce and manipulate the women they hate into sex and then dispose of them.

I don't find it manly at all.

There is a reason Andrew Tate has been arrested multiple times on allegations of sexual crimes.

The manosphere is a reaction to feminism but it is built on a philosophy that has captured teenage boys for generations: hedonism. But it is not a hedonism thought out. It is an angry hedonism with vengeance at its core. A man doesn't just pursue pleasure; he pursues pleasure by force of will and manipulation as if it is his right. It makes him feel as if he is rising up as a man should do but he is rising up not for the good, but for himself.

There is nothing in this philosophy about responsibility, service, virtue, the pursuit of the good for the sake of others, the uplifting of humanity, or the cultivation of a family life. Instead, it is self-seeking hedonism attracting angry, wandering men, especially those who are young and who have been ostracized by a combination of feminism and fatherlessness.

In a world where children grow up without fathers, you're bound to have a world where women are mad at men for not being everything they need a father to be. And we have men who have no idea what it means to be a man, by which I mean to take on responsibility, service, strength for the sake of another, pursuit of the good, and the creation of a family. Young men these days have no concept of what that means because they've never seen it.

There's this great scene in the show Friday Night Lights. Michael B. Jordan's character is interacting with the coach. The coach is on his case and says, "I need you to be a man." Michael B. Jordan throws something across the room and says, "How am I supposed to be a man when no one ever showed me?" I paused the show at that moment and wept because that is the story of an entire generation, maybe two or three.

Andrew Tate may be going to prison and hopefully so. But he has created many disciples and his influence is not gone. I know many Christian men were captivated by things he said. Not all he said, but some. Some is too much.

Feminism has lasted many generations because it went unopposed. The Andrew Tate manosphere could have the same outcome for the next few generations if it goes unopposed and we will end up with a true battle of the sexes that will nothing short of catastrophic.