Male Loneliness Is Leading To Direct Violence

With the increase of gun violence in the past two decades, an increase in what is called the “manosphere” has followed closely behind. 

The term “manosphere” refers to online forums where men — namely young, impressionable boys — express radical concerns about contemporary versions of masculinity, or what they often believe is a lack thereof. These “opinions” usually create a hostile environment for feminism and women in general to exist. 

Within manospheres, violence, mainly targeted towards women, is not just normalized but heavily encouraged. We can see this exemplified in the fact that 90% of mass shooting perpetrators in the United States, from 1966 -2021, have identified as male. Not only does this phenomenon matter in the context of mass tragedies, but gun violence in the context of femicide and domestic violence are undoubtedly a part of this conversation. 

For many young boys, the “manosphere” has become a unified space in the wake of women’s rights. Because these boys and men have been conditioned to believe that the inclusion of others means the exclusion of themselves, a hatred for women is strongly brewed within these environments, and the seeking of community is easy when harmful communities like the manosphere are constantly being pushed through digital algorithms. 

A study by the University College London and the University of Kent outlines how researchers “detected a four-fold increase in the level of misogynistic content suggested by TikTok over a five-day period.” One of the scariest parts about this phenomenon is that, rather than this content seeming sociopolitical, it’s being perceived as general entertainment. 

These mindsets built off of algorithms often lead to social isolation — an issue we see exist within the “male loneliness epidemic,” which I argue to be a product of their own doing, but I digress. The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine conducted a study that outlined how “177 mass shooters [have] identified social isolation as the most important external indicator leading up to the attacks.” 

It may seem as though these online echo chambers are nothing but that — online. But in our current political climate, these thoughts are no longer limited to a digital community. They are manifesting in real, physical ways like gun violence. 

The Movember Foundation, a global non-profit that focuses on men’s mental health, says that “two-thirds of young men regularly engage with masculinity influencers online.” With many of these influencers perpetuating the idea that men are the main victims of our progressing social fabric, it’s no shock that their audiences are turning to the violence that is being encouraged as a trait of masculinity. 

All of this is not to say that men’s mental health has more of an impact on gun violence than gun control — because our leaders and their financial ties to the National Rifle Association carry much of that blame. But, mental health and identification with radical social ideologies are most definitely influential factors. Through the encouragement of social connections and addressing men’s mental health head on, we may, as a society, be able to combat this issue of violence overall. 

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