Louis Therouxâs newest documentary, Into the Manosphere, recently aired on Netflix, and, oh boy, was it eye-opening. Louis delves into a certain subgroup of ultra-masculine âinfluencersâ who aim to teach young boys how to be men and make money. Louis debunks their hypocritical values and questions the platforms and the men who give them support. As a young woman, watching the likes of HS Tikky Tokky talking about his views on women deeply unsettled me. Extreme sexism, homophobia, racism and transphobia appeared so internalised to these men who are accessible for anyone to watch. I was not surprised to see that I knew lots of boys that I had grown up with, or met at school or university, following these men on Instagram, consuming their content out of choice. Whether or not they believe anything he says, a follow is indicative that they want to see his content, and I doubt their doing so is for research purposes. Let’s get into the good (Louis), the bad and the downright disturbing with my take on the Into the Manosphere documentary.Â
The Father Wound
Many of the men that Louis interviewed came from families without a father figure present. Both Harrison Sullivan (known on his platforms as HS Tikky Tokky) and businessman Justin Waller commented on how they came from single-parent households. Research indicates that men without fathers often develop different values, behavioural traits and emotional coping mechanisms from those coming from two-parent households. Louis claims that their âinsecure upbringing builds a distrust in traditional family lifeâ, explaining their performatively sexual appearances and lack of monogamy. A common pattern that I noticed was that men/boys looked up to these hyper-masculine figures as aspirational, creating the perfect recipe for unconditional fandom loyalty. Mix together one man who preaches that he can help you to feel worthy, loved and masculine with lots of insecure men who have been deprived of a stable family, so depend on a parasocial relationship in order to feel worthy, and what do you get? A sexist cult of men with hero complexes, skewed values and biceps bigger than brains. Itâs easy to joke about how ridiculously laughable their backwards politics are, but the documentary made me realise how close to home the issue at hand is. These are young men with audiences all over the world who are buying into their manipulative sales techniques. These men are no philosophers. Sam Smith is not ruling the world, after all. They are salesmen who use âperformative misogyny of creating outrageâ, according to Louis. Whether or not they truly believe in the bullshit they project out, their platforms are large enough, and their audience is manipulable enough to believe it.
Pretty Privilege and Insecure menÂ
I was recently educated by Justin Waller that patriarchy does not exist and, in fact, men are and always have been disadvantaged by their gender and not women. His claim that âWomen are born with their value through beauty, but men have to work their way upâ indicates two things to me. Firstly, that he has never seen Brad Pitt and secondly, that the concept of beauty is dependent on men’s perception of it⊠because of that little old thing we call the patriarchy. By creating this narrative that men are worthless until they prove themselves, they create an insecurity amongst men that encourages them to find unnatural and unrealistic ways of gaining value and self-worth. Waller believes that a relationship does not depend on equality, but rather the necessity for the man to be the womanâs hero. Forget the red pill, I think someone needs a chill pill because this hero complex must be squeezing the life out of him even more than his 3-sizes-too-small suits.
Unfaithful menâŠI mean one-way monogamyÂ
The concept of one-way monogamy was extremely prevalent during the documentary. The definition of which is that the woman is unconditionally doting and loyal in the ârelationshipâ or even marriage, and the man can have as many sexual partners or even wives as he pleases. Even the ultimate historic fuck-boy Henry VIII knew that it was wrong to have multiple wives at the same time⊠come on, guys. Waller believes that âwomen donât want to sleep with other men when they love a manâ, so clearly there’s some kind of biological difference in our genetic makeup. Or maybe you donât love her enough? Or maybe your morals are just atrocious? Or both! One of the most uncomfortable parts of the documentary was between Myron Gaines and his girlfriend, Angie. He spoke about the possibility of having multiple wives in the future, to which Louis remarked on her hesitance and clear discomfort in the conversation. Louis questioned Myron on whether, if he asked Angie if she would rather have him all to herself and be in a monogamous relationship, she would say yes. To which he replied, she would want whatever makes me happy. Louis contested his attitude towards monogamy and also pointed out the hypocrisy of the manosphere, which advocates for traditional values yet also promotes OnlyFans girls and women who monetise their sexuality. In the words of HS Tickky Tokky, âDo I agree with it? No. I think it’s disgusting. But do I profit from it? Yeah.â Corrupt salesmen are all that these rage-baiting men are, and I’m not buying it.Â
After watching the documentary alone, I then rewatched it with my parents, knowing that they were probably unaware of the growing indoctrination occurring on these online spaces. My dad, as a father of two girls, was filled with protective rage, but my mum appeared seemingly unsurprised. The normalisation of misogynistic behaviour is so deeply internalised in society that we are becoming numb to the effects of their degenerateness. I think the best analogy for these men is that they are predators. Not necessarily in a sexual way, but they are picking on the most vulnerable men in society, building this bond of loyalty and trust with them, making them feel chosen and loved, and then profiting off of them by encouraging support for their pyramid schemes. Their distorted definitions of masculinity, which confuse dominance with controlling and abusive behaviour, create a worrying portrayal of relationships to their followers. Loving women and valuing women are completely different things. Misogyny creeps in (or, in the case of these men, kicks the door down with a vest and a can of Stella) when a man does not value women or see them as equals. I watched the documentary mainly from the point of view of myself, a 20-year-old girl who has seen evidence of behavioural traits that these men have in people I have known, dated and heard of. I think it is a worrying insight into our society and the platforms that we give to men who think in such derogatory ways, not just about gender but race and sexuality too. As a University of Leeds student, I was beyond grateful to hear that HS Tikky Tokky was banned from doing the Otley Run by the Leeds City Council. It is disappointing that these figures are still given space to coerce young and vulnerable boys in 2026. I think itâs time to rewatch the Barbie movie now.Â
Editor: Grace Lees