Trigger warning: This article contains demeaning and violent language toward women.
The day after the 2024 presidential election, an alarming and loathsome post on X by Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist nationalist podcaster, went viral. In it, he smirks into the camera and gleefully proclaims, “Women, we control your bodies! Guess what? Guys win again! There will never, EVER be a female president!” This post quickly gained over 82 million views and was shared on many other social media channels, including YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
The Rise of Digital Sexism
Digital sexism and unvarnished misogyny are on the rise, driven in part by men’s isolation and alienation in a changing world coupled with the echo chamber provided by social media. Sexist and abusive attacks on women like “your body, my choice” and “get back to the kitchen,” have surged across social media since Donald Trump was re–elected, reports the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
The vindictiveness and tenor displayed by some men against women in the wake of the election reveals an ugly and unacknowledged dynamic: the election outcome signals for some a triumph of men over women—as though the two were pitted against each other. This dynamic of “power over” drives gender-based violence and other forms of oppression.
The extreme binary and rigid hierarchies of winning vs losing, alphas vs. betas, and other examples of good vs. bad are upheld and promoted across the manosphere, a web of male supremacist networks, where men (particularly white men) are radicalized to despise women and the feminine.
What is the Manosphere?
The ‘manosphere’ is an umbrella term that refers to groups of interconnected misogynistic communities. It covers a broad collection of websites, forums, and other online spaces that promote a continuum of misogyny – from broader male supremacist discussions to men’s rights activism (MRA) and “involuntary celibates” (incels).
The cross-pollination between white supremacy and the misogyny of the manosphere misogynist is heavy, and in many cases the two are indistinguishable from one another. The Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, two national groups working to uproot hate and white supremacy, have thoroughly documented these intersections.
Whether white men are drawn to the manosphere by way of romantic rejection, economic hardship, or loneliness, the uncomfortable truth is that this strand of online hatred has real world consequences. Post-election, the cruel and intimidating taunts of “your body, my choice” online quickly jumped into schools where girls and young women reported being targeted in class by their male counterparts who chanted and jeered using the very same phrase.
At the same time, calls to LGBTQ hotlines experienced an unprecedented surge in the days after the election, sparked by a panic among queer and trans young people who face real threats from the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric of the right.
This uptick in hateful discourse has been buoyed and emboldened by campaign rhetoric from the incoming president. Many survivors of violence, especially members of marginalized communities, are alarmed and in despair about what is to come with the next Administration.
Our Vision is Our Guidepost
What we at the Action Alliance know in this time of dread and uncertainty is that it is even more essential to hold fast to believing in and working toward a radically hopeful future. A future where people are free to have what they need to reach their full potential. Where relationships, families, and communities are healthy, equitable, nourishing, and joyful. A future where government and other institutions are rooted in equity and justice.
In the service of our vision, we will continue to operate from our core values of equity, respect, bravery, abundance, commitment, and even joy. We will hold fast to the knowledge that gentle and trustworthy human connection is healing, and that our relationships and communities thrive when we are operating from a place of love and curiosity.
We will not waver in our knowledge that we all deserve freedom and liberation and that each of us is sacred and interconnected. The work to get to freedom is generational, and we will keep our eyes on the horizon as we continue to walk toward a radically hopeful future. We hope you join us for this journey.
Kate McCord is the Associate Director of the Action Alliance and has worked in the movement for more than 30 years.
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