Why Do Young Men Find Comfort and Support in these Communities?

Men are taught in modern society to not feel their feelings and that anything outside of confidence is deemed as weak and not manly. As a society, we have been able to start to acknowledge mental health impacts but the stigmatization of it all towards men still is heavy.

When young boys look for these outlets such as YouTube videos or online forum communities, they often are looking for ways to fix the loneliness and self doubt they are experiencing. These communities help build a sense of belonging and provide an easy target for the problem they face- women. While some organizations help provide resources and tools to make situations better, these blame feminism for young men's social struggles and isolation.

Once someone watches this form of content, algorithms assume the watcher enjoyed it and provides more similar material. This creates a cycle. Young men's humor is typically raunchy and can make misogynistic material seem normal hidden under poor quality memes. The danger of over consumption of this type of material is that it can build resentment and mistrust in their relationships and see those around them as enemies not friends or partners. 

We have all heard about limiting violent video games for children as it glorifies violent behaviors. This is very similar. On sites that talk about these topics many jokes and memes are shared that idolize those who have partaken in abusive and violent behaviors like Elliot Rodgers. 

Some notable accounts to look out for include Pearl Davis, Andrew Tate, Chisha Zed, and Ben Shapiro. Examples of the grave effects of redpill/incel content on people are being shown more and more in the media. A great show to watch is called Adolescence on Netflix and a great book to read in regards to this topic is Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates.