manosphere

31 July 2026

The manosphere is a loose network of social media accounts, blogs, websites, etc. that evince antifeminist and misogynistic views. The term dates to 2011 and starts appearing in mainstream media publications two years later. The word is modeled on blogosphere, which, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, dates to 2002.

The earliest uses of manosphere that I have found are on Reddit.com in the subreddit r/MensRights. That subreddit has a thread started on 21 January 2011 with the title “Women can age beautifully. One of the best posts in the manosphere.” The first post in the thread has been deleted, so the context cannot be exactly determined, but given the nature of that subreddit and the other, surviving posts in the thread, the meaning is generally in line with the standard definition.

Then on 11 February 2011 the following appears in the same subreddit:

It's a little disappointing that so many men resist Game in the manosphere. The way I see it, Game is the yin to MRA's yang—together they take pussy off the pedestal and give men the tools to navigate life an a [sic] safe and effective manner. Why would anyone be against that?

And on 18 April 2011 there is another thread with the lengthy title:

I'm compiling a list of the best articles of the manosphere, starting with The Spearhead: Here's one I rated 9/10 by Novaseeker entitled "Equality Redux" covering the topics of: history of feminism, female privilege, misandry, male spaces, anti-male laws, empowering women at the expense of men.

There is only one post in the thread which contains a single URL, whose link is no longer functioning.

Manosphere starts to be used outside the manosphere in 2013. That year sees the publication of Michael Kimmel’s book Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era, which contains this passage:

The development of the Internet has fueled websites and blogs that keep the conversation going and the blood boiling. The emergence of what one writer calls the “manosphere” is a loose collection of websites that sustain the rage; even the most casual tourist will happen upon “a torrent of diatribes, invectives, atrocity takes, claims to entitlement, calls to arms, and prescriptions for change in the service of men, children, families, God, the past, the future, the nation, the planet, and all other things non-feminist.”

The Guardian newspaper picks up on the term on 1 August 2013:

Right now we are dealing with something worse: a rightwing establishment and its lackeys who have managed to convince themselves they are mavericks and who are openly anti-feminist. From Toby Young to James Delingpole to Guido’s bloggers, their putrid offerings are not outside the establishment but part of it. They are just fagging for the Tories.

They may do some childcare and fantasise about PJ O’Rourke, but they encourage the bottom-feeders of the “manosphere” who never seem to realise that feminists not only have relationships with men, but sons too.

And in the United States, a 19 November 2013 article in New York’s Newsday that was widely syndicated in papers across the country has this:

The men's rights movement, which has gained new visibility in recent years thanks to the Internet, is often viewed as a lunatic fringe of women haters. Unfortunately, quite a few websites in the so-called "manosphere" do their best, or worst, to earn this reputation.

Sources:

Bobsutan. “Game for MRAs.” Reddit.com/r/MensRights, 11 February 2011.

“I'm compiling a list of the best articles of the manosphere, starting with The Spearhead: Here's one I rated 9/10 by Novaseeker entitled "Equality Redux" covering the topics of: history of feminism, female privilege, misandry, male spaces, anti-male laws, empowering women at the expense of men.” Reddit.com/r/MensRights, 18 April 2011.

Kimmel, Michael. Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era. New York: Nation Books, 2013, 113. ProQuest Books.

Merriam-Webster.com, 2 July 2026, s.v. manosphere, n.

Moore, Suzanne. “This Pre-Emptive Strike Against Equality Comes from a Rightwing Establishment that Wants to Preserve the ‘Manosphere.’” Guardian (London), 1 August 2013, A5. Newspapers.com.

Oxford English Dictionary Online, December 2009, s.v. blogosphere, n.

“Women can age beautifully. One of the best posts in the manosphere.” Reddit.com/r/MensRights, 21 January 2011. [First post in thread deleted]

Young, Cathy. “Neither Side Is Free of Gender Bias.” Newsday (New York), 19 November 2013, A33. ProQuest Newspapers.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, 2018. Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.