Anti-feminism and Online Misogyny: The Manosphere and its Female Supporters
2023 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
In recent years, the term 'Manosphere' has emerged as an umbrella term for interconnected misogynistic online communities. The communities all share the same desire to explore topics such as men's perspectives, needs, frustrations, and desires. Typically, discourse across the manosphere revolves around men's rights activism (MRA) and anti-feminism, emphasizing discrimination against men. While these groups mainly comprise men with a shared sense of disorientation, some women champion their causes. One such group is the Honey Badger's Brigade, led by Canadian's Karen Straughan and Janet Bloomfield. Straughan and Bloomfield are well-known figures within the Men's rights community. Through their online platforms, they have vocally aired their support for MRA and the shunning of feminism for the past decade. While there have been studies on why women support the patriarchy and on female anti-feminists, no empirical research exists on female men's rights activism (FeMRA). This study explores how the Honey Badger's Brigade situates its discourse regarding men's rights activism on its online platforms, with the intention of filling the gap in previous research on the manosphere. The study utilizes a reflexive thematic analysis, guided by framing theory and internalized misogyny, to explore the research question: How does the FeMRA group 'The Honey Badgers Brigade' frame their grievances on their online platforms? The research found a discourse centered around the themes of 'the disposable male,' 'female privilege,' 'anti- feminism / feminists as deviant women,' 'misandry is a real problem,' and 'rape culture is fictional,' which revealed a deeply ingrained internalized misogyny.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 57
Keywords [en]
FeMRA, Patriarchy, Anti-feminism, Incels, Misandry, Misogyny, Manosphere
National Category
Media and Communications
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-64005OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-64005DiVA, id: diva2:1816121
Educational program
KS K3 Media and Communication Studies (master)
Supervisors
Examiners
2023-12-012023-11-302023-12-01Bibliographically approved