How To Keep Your Sons Away From the Black Manosphere
Daryl Curry and his son, Caido, 10-months, came out to the “March of Dads” organized by the Dad Gangs began at the National Museum of African American History and Culture to honor the black men whose lives were cut short and won’t be able to celebrate Father’s Day with their children June 21, 2020 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Belief systems perpetuated in the manosphere are just as harmful and widespread as they’ve ever been — and with Father’s Day around the corner, Black dads should be attentive to make sure their kids avoid such toxic ideologies.
According to a New York Post report this week, a new study has found that one out of every five men has embraced the type of attitudes that lead to “problematic or even criminally relevant behavior (i.e. violence, hate speech, discrimination, and radicalization).” The study, done by University of Zurich in Switzerland in tandem with the global Mencare campaign, surveyed more than 6,000 people while using a scale that “indicates the degree to which people have internalized restrictive-dominant masculinity attitudes.”
The manosphere is an ecosystem of podcasts, influencers, online communities, and social media channels that targets disgruntled men by promoting misogyny, toxic masculinity, and male dominance — often within the context of far-right politics. It presents itself as self-help for boys, while ultimately perpetuating the idea that modern society is biased in favor of women, and that men need to fight back.
Many people only associate the ecosystem with white-presenting personalities such as Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson, but there’s also a Black Manosphere that focuses on Black boys and men through similar but nuanced ideas — with Black women often being the target of their ire. The deceased Kevin Samuels was one of the most visible figures of the movement, along with other figures like the hosts of the Fresh & Fit Podcast and Mumia Obsidian Ali, a personality and author who hosts a yearly Black Manosphere Conclave. This also includes the “passport bros” movement, a trend of Western men who relocate to international locations for dating and marriage options after feeling dissatisfied and alienated from their romantic options in the States. While Manosphere philosophies are largely referred to as “red pill” (a reference to the iconic scene from the movie The Matrix), the Black Manosphere is referred to as the “brown pill.”
What makes the brown pill movement particularly dangerous is that it takes advantage of legitimate issues that impact Black men — loneliness, underemployment, and systemic racism. But instead of recognizing how their own respectability politics and patriarchal views further perpetuate such misery, they lean double down on them and continue to struggle.
The Black Manosphere negatively impacts people individually and systemically. As the University of Zurich study points out, men who traffic in such material are more likely to have unhealthy and possibly criminal relationships with the women in their lives — romantically, professionally, and otherwise. WIth Black women being the target of such rhetoric, their physical and emotional safety is at risk as well.
Keeping impressionable Black men away from these ideas can be an uphill battle, but it starts at home. The Center for Exploitation Education suggests for parents to first look out for red flags by being attentive children’s changes in language and monitoring the creators they follow on social media and podcasts. Then, to start conversations with them by asking questions, exploring educational resources together, and highlighting positive male role models, along with being a strong example yourself.
