who is the manosphere really for?

Jokes about closets and the male gaze aside, who really thrives in this noxious ecosystem and why?

Less than a week after Louis Theroux's documentary about the manosphere dropped on Netflix, journalist and podcaster Liz Plank wrote an article laying out out a case that rather than simply being a cesspit of misogyny, the media ecosystem in question was "the gayest thing on the internet." Her proposition sounds weird, but her arguments are solid, echo a lot of social chatter and jokes about redpill bros, and are pretty damn hard to ignore after the documentary.

Now, it would be easy for me to make some choice quips about how often redpill bros are obsessed with talking about hard men, good times with hard men, and making soft men hard for said good times. You could criticize this as homophobic, but I would argue that it's just a way to call much needed attention to the fact that typical redpill language sounds like a pitch for something a lot more, well, borderline homoerotic to someone who doesn't marinate in podcast bro content day in, day out.

The thought crossed my mind about a year and a half ago in response to a bizarre viral moment as a MAGA influencer on a manosphere podcast declared that if you have sex with a woman and give her an orgasm, you may as well be gay while his wife looked on in mute horror. At the time, I thought this was part of a strategy to just keep on telling straight men like me that we're doing heterosexuality wrong no matter what we do so they can sell us an answer to the problems they create.

But something felt off. As I said in the video, my hot take is that as a straight man, I very much enjoy the company of women, both platonically and otherwise, like to learn about their ideas, hear their life stories, and if anything non-platonic happened later on, I'd be pretty disappointed in myself if I couldn't help her get to the finish line. I'd try again, ask for more feedback, and learn what works until we get to a point where we figure it out, not just as a matter of pride, but for, well, the love of the game if you will.

For my entire life, I considered this textbook straight guy behavior. Yet according to the manosphere, I may as well move to West Hollywood, put on some pink short shorts and wave the rainbow flag. Oh, and I'm also supposed to have children "to flex on the gays" but if I or my partner enjoys the process, then it's totally gay and I'm... a beta soy boy for having sex with women?

Likewise, look at how would-be manosphere gym bro influencers started social media trends of bashing guys who do hip abductions or thrusts as part of their gym routines. Supposedly, these exercises are for girls and make other men question your sexuality. Which is absurd. Why wouldn't you want to improve your legs, knees, lower back, and increase your stamina and control at the gym, when running, and in bed? Again, this feels backward. What exactly does the manosphere actually have to offer your typical heterosexual man who actually likes women?

And this is where I'm going to go in a different direction than Plank. I really don't think that these guys are gay or homosocial, as Plank put it. My opinion? They're asexual and focused entirely on chasing clout and wealth. Women are just props to them for the purposes of clout, and even then, they're just in the way if they stick around a little too long on camera. They're only there to either get the attention of straight, unhappy men, or serve as targets for toxic culture wars commentary.

I also don't think they hate women per se. They hate women who act as anything other than props or trophies to show off how much clout, wealth, and status they have. They want women to serve the same role as a luxury car or a Hublot watch because in the movies, all the rich and powerful guys everyone bows to always have a petite woman in skimpy outfits draped over their arm with a smile. That woman also talking, having her own ideas, her own money, and options? What?! No! Their Lambo doesn't! Why the hell would their women?

The overlaps with gay circuit and muscle queen culture are not intentional, but a mere coincidence because they equate muscles and fitness with clout and wealth. Yes, they're also going for and teaching their fans to attract the male eye, but in a display of power and dominance so they're taken seriously as gurus who should be paid for their time and wisdom because look at how well they have their shit together and how fit, strong, and chiseled they are.

Likewise, the reason why incels, misogynists, and their various subcultures like the redpilled, the blackpilled, the looksmaxxers, the gooners, and so on, glom onto the manosphere is because at heart, these are people who feel like they've been unfairly cast out of the kind of life experience they felt entitled to but didn't get, and one of them is, yes, having a petite, smiling, compliant woman following in tow and catering to their every whim. Not because they like her, because she's a status symbol to them, one they honestly believe they deserve.

So, no, it's not that the manosphere are just closeted gay men who think women are icky, hate the idea of having to be with them but don't accept that they don't have to, and lashing out because of it. It's that the only things they really love are themselves and when they don't get the toys and adoration and sexual gratification they want on demand, the narcissistic injuries flare up and they explode. And since that happens often, they rationalize it as "real alpha behavior" the rest of us can't understand so we call them self-absorbed assholes with anger issues.

Their content, by extension, is for fragile narcissists to bounce their worst intrusive and selfish thoughts off each other and monetize by selling their followers anything they can pitch as helping them achieve their alpha, or sigma, or omega, or double zeta giga omni whatever potential through alternating between hyping them up and tearing into them for not having what they're supposedly rightfully entitled to. And that's the scary part. It's a good sales pitch.

Redpill manosphere content is a 24/7/365.25 stream of viral clips meant to find and relentlessly target wounded narcissists and launder their worst impulses and angry grievances as not only totally justified, but their right as men, or find those with low self-esteem and depression, and sell this toxic self-indulgent narcissism – and the services and products that supposedly help you get what you're owed by life and society – as the cure.

The men around you? Either bros who have your back no matter what or competition. The women? Trophies to win with cash, luxury toys, and swagger, or loud, evil, entitled, hypergamous harpies or OnlyFans flesh-peddlers corrupted by the evil globalist Jews. Now, go get 'em tiger. Just sign up for the Real Sigma MLM, buy the steroids, and drink the mushroom tea. And keep watching and liking because that's the only way you'll learn how to beat a world unable to deal with your sheer masculine awesomeness.