Worcester News Column - WMRSASC CEO, Jocelyn Anderson
Recently I watched Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere.
It was difficult viewing because it’s all too familiar.
The language may be more extreme and the platforms more visible, but the underlying attitudes are the same old misogynistic and harmful ideas about women, relationships, power and control.
Old, outdated ideas being repackaged for a new generation and delivered straight into the hands of boys and girls through the phones they carry every day.
But this is not just about a few toxic influencers – it is about the system that allows them to thrive.
Social media algorithms are designed to keep young people watching, scrolling and reacting.
They are not built to promote healthy relationships or critical thinking.
They are built to maximise engagement and content that provokes outrage, insecurity or anger performs well.
The more extreme the message, the more likely it is to be pushed, repeated and recommended. Boys are not just stumbling across these messages by accident.
They are being targeted by men who present themselves as role models, offering certainty, status and belonging.
Boys who may feel lonely, insecure or unsure of themselves at a critical developmental point in their lives are told that women are to blame for their unhappiness, that respect is weakness and that masculinity is about dominance, detachment and control.
This is not guidance. It is manipulation.
Behind it is a lucrative business model. Every click, view, subscription and donation turns insecurity into income.
Misogyny is not just being shared online. It is being monetised.
Girls, meanwhile, are left to live with the consequences.
They are growing up in an online culture where harassment is normalised, humiliation is entertainment and contempt for women is treated as confidence.
They are still told to be careful, to stay safe and to avoid the wrong attention.
Victim-blaming remains rife.
The damage does not stop here – young people grow up. They become police officers, care workers, teachers, lawyers, judges and decision-makers.
If harmful attitudes about women, consent and credibility go unchallenged, they do not disappear with age.
They are carried into the very systems survivors turn to for help.
We know the criminal justice system is broken and traumatising for survivors with violence against women and girls already accounting for around 20 per cent of all recorded crime in England and Wales.
At our centre we see the impact of these attitudes in our everyday work.
Young people need help to question what they are seeing online, and adults need the confidence to talk openly about consent, respect, rejection, relationships, manipulation and accountability.
We know early intervention matters.
It’s about helping boys understand strength is not about control, respect is not optional and relationships should never be built on fear or entitlement.
It is about making sure girls, and all young people grow up knowing they deserve to feel safe, heard and respected and able to recognise when something doesn’t feel right.
Because the most important influence in a young person’s life should never be the loudest voice online.
It should be the steady, informed voices around them every day.
And that is where real change begins.
To find out more about our work or to support survivors by making a donation, visit: www.wmrsasc.org.uk
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