Counter or Alternative Narratives: How do we best address the ideology of anti-feminist movements?

Today’s post by Dr Simon Copland explores the rising influence of global anti-feminist and far-right movements — and why our current strategies to prevent them are falling short. Drawing on his expertise in masculinity, online extremism, and his recent book The Male Complaint: The Manosphere and Misogyny Online, Simon argues that it's time to rethink how we engage with men drawn into these harmful ideologies.

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Global anti-feminist movements, such as the online Manosphere, are having an increasing influence amongst young men. Misogynists such as Andrew Tate have been taking the internet by storm, with their antiquated and often violent ideas influencing millions of men (and some women). These movements are deeply linked to the far-right and white supremacists, movements which are not just gaining influence but real power in the US and large parts of Europe.

There are lots of things we need to do to stop these movements rising. In this article I want to talk about one aspect of this – how we need to change our approach in talking with these men.

Recently, movements to prevent and counter violent extremism have focused predominantly on using an idea called ‘counter-narratives’ to tackle violent ideologies. Counter-narratives are intentional or direct efforts to ‘discredit, deconstruct and demystify violent extremist narratives through ideology, fact, logic or humour’. Counter-narratives proactively counter the ideology of extremist groups, by, for example providing evidence of the gender pay gap to counter claims it doesn’t exist, or countering claims of male oppression by pointing out power still held by men. The idea is that we just need to push back – hold bad ideas up to a spotlight, show how wrong they are, and challenge them directly.

This approach has been used a lot in direct attempts to reduce extremism, with it first being used formally in attempts to get people out of the extremist Islamist group ISIS. Research on the success of these approaches, however, is very sketchy – it just doesn’t work.

Why? Counter-narratives engage with Manosphere and far-right groups by taking the approach that ideology is what we need to defeat first. The problem is, for many people, particularly in the edges of these movements, ideology often isn’t the main motivation for joining. Instead, people often join due to a sense of isolation or disconnect from society, with anti-feminist or far-right spaces, providing a space where individuals are heard and feel safe. Counter narratives therefore target the wrong part of the problem.

This doesn’t mean that men don’t end up being misogynists, nor that many others don’t have genuine white-supremacist or authoritarian views. But even when people end up in that headspace, counter-narratives also don’t work. Instead, attempts to ‘push back’ or ‘counter’ people’s views can back people into a corner, pushing them closer to the community we want to pull them out of. Counter-narratives can therefore be counterproductive, making people feel shouted at, which never actually achieves anything.

We need to be talking to these communities, particularly those on the edge of the Manosphere or far-right, differently. Instead of using counter-narratives, I suggest that instead we use ‘alternative narratives’. Used increasingly in more formal attempts to reduce extremism,  alternative narratives aim to reduce radicalisation by giving participants an alternative story to help explain their situation and feelings, providing a different, more positive, path for people to go down. Instead of trying to counter misogynistic ideas, alternative narratives seek to talk with men about the real causes of their problems and encourage them to join movements that aim to tackle these causes.

People are already using these approaches to great success. The subreddits r/IncelExit and r/ExRedPill, support men who have left or wish to leave Manosphere communities. Insights from these communities show individuals never, or rarely, decide to leave communities after being ‘challenged’ by others, with motivations ranging from discovering ideological inconsistencies within the movement, or through having friendly or warm relationships with women that present alternatives to the anti-women narratives driven by Manosphere leaders. The community works through people having patience with these men, working with them to unpick Manosphere ideology and provide them with a different understanding of what is going on with the world.

This is something we can replicate more broadly. Social movements for progressive change can shift people away from Manosphere and far-right ideas by talking to disillusioned members of our society about how capitalism and oligarchs are the real cause of their problems, not women, immigrants or people of colour. This is not just effective (see the success of Bernie Sanders or Zohran Mamdani), but also based in truth of what is happening in the world.

While not a full solution, alternative narratives should be one part of the toolbox to address growing anti-feminist and far-right movements. The way we are talking with and to these men is clearly not working, so we have to do something different. The future of our world depends on it.   

About the Author: Dr Simon Copland is a researcher with expertise in masculinity, the far-right and extremism online. He recently published the book, The Male Complaint: The Manosphere and Misogyny Online.

Moderator: Molly Saunders