What does it mean to be a man? Some view men as an inherently oppressive class that needs to be put in its place. Millions of young men worldwide tire of such finger-wagging. One faction claims to have the solution: Push back against women—hard. Look like a Greek god in the mirror, using whatever concoctions you need. Get the girl, or girls. Smoke and be proud of it.

Welcome to the manosphere. Never heard of it? If you haven’t, your teenage son probably has.

The manosphere is a loose term, but it is often used to describe an online community of men who feel the world is geared against them. It is an aggressive reaction against feminism: If women’s empowerment means pushing men down, men need to push the women back. And it’s led by some colorful personalities.

Andrew Tate

Andrew Tate is a British-American kickboxing world champion who has become famous as an Internet personality. He has almost 10 million followers on X. A 2023 YouGov poll suggested 40 percent of British men under 40 agreed with most of his positions. The same poll suggested a quarter of British boys between 13 and 15 had a “positive view of him.”

His posts show him embracing the hard-and-fast life. Often shirtless, he drives flashy cars, smokes expensive-looking cigars, and shows off his skill in boxing and martial arts.

Much of his marketed philosophy revolves around encouraging men to invest hard effort—whether it be at the gym, in their careers or in some other venture—to achieve their goals. This content intends to have an inspirational focus on a vision of hope. Tate’s rationale for why men should look forward to hard work is that “the universe” will somehow remunerate them in the end.

Many young men aren’t getting this kind of advice from more traditional support structures. Schools around the world praise boys who think they are girls or at least like other boys. Academia and left-wing media proclaim that concepts like chivalry are sexist, that a man who wants to be his family’s primary breadwinner is a misogynist, and that “the patriarchy” is the root of Western civilization’s social ills. Bombarded with this kind of messaging, it’s easy to see why many young men find a message like Tate’s attractive.

That’s not the whole story, though. Much of the “good life” Tate incentivizes comes with catches.

This is especially true with his views on how men should treat women. He embraces identifying as a “misogynist.” He openly glorifies domestic violence and sexual assault in his content. In one video explaining what he would do if a woman accused him of cheating, he said: “It’s bang out the machete, boom in her face, and grip her by the neck. Shut up [expletive].” One text message leaked to the media showed him telling a woman, “I love raping you.”

After accusations of sexual assault in his native United Kingdom, Tate moved to Romania around 2017. He said in a video that “probably 40 percent of the reason” he moved there was because it would be easier to avoid rape charges. “I’m not a rapist,” he said, “but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.”

Romania arrested him in 2022 on charges of human trafficking and pimping. Under pressure from the United States government, Romania allowed him to leave the country earlier this year.

Tate has also made provocative statements about anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. He claims governments use World War ii to “psyop the populace” to believe “bad guy equals Nazi.” He often uses the word “Jew” as a pejorative term for critics. After Israel assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last year, Tate posted on X: “I can only pray for a death as heroic as Yahya Sinwar. Brave, defiant in the face of evil and dedicated to his life’s purpose.”

Myron Gaines

Myron Gaines, whose real name is Amrou Fudl, was born in New York City. Of Sudanese descent, he is most famous for cohosting the “Fresh and Fit” podcast with Walter Weekes. “Fresh and Fit” brands itself as “the #1 men’s self-improvement podcast in the world.” It has over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, and it claims to “provide the truth to men on females, finances and fitness.”

Like Tate, Gaines taps into the angst men feel caused by society pressuring them to be more feminine. His provocatively titled book, Why Women Deserve Less, starts with this preface: “This book does not call for refusing to help your fellow human if it’s a woman. Nor does it call for refusing to work, interact or socialize with women in society.” Rather, its premise is how feminism has upturned the social order to the point that many women feel they don’t need men anymore, and men need to take back the self-respect they let feminists take from them.

When men face regular commentary like the following from the popular television program The View, it’s hard not to empathize.

The book, and Gaines’s commentary in general, has a very narrow premise that romantic relationships have sex as their primary foundation. It’s safe to say that such a worldview is not a healthy foundation. While Gaines isn’t notorious for calls of violence and sexual assault like Tate is, he makes comments like “women are property” and “single mums are for recreational use only.” Gaines is still a misogynist, encouraging young men to become fellow misogynists.

Like with Tate, Gaines’s content is also extremely anti-Semitic. His program regularly engages in Holocaust denial and even Holocaust glorification. Like some other right-wing commentators, Gaines often pushes the “Jewish conspiracy” narrative that Jews are secretly controlling all the levers of power at Gentiles’ expense, which is why “Hitler had a point.”

In other words, Gaines blames women for men’s romantic problems and Jews for everything else.

What Is Real Masculinity?

The manosphere confronts real problems. Feminism has marginalized young men especially. It shouldn’t be controversial for people to speak out or push back. But according to the manosphere’s leading voices, the solution is to treat women as sex toys and blame the Jews for one’s problems. This comes as anti-Semitic attacks around the world are becoming alarmingly normalized.

Is this the only alternative?

The manosphere is part of a wider conservative backlash against progressive culture. Conservatism, in theory, is about following tradition. Much of the Western conservative tradition comes from religion. It warrants considering what the Bible says about true masculinity.

The Bible says that God “which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4). God made men. God invented masculinity. After He formed man, He pronounced His creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31). This was not very good compared to an “inferior female.” God made two separate sexes of humans, both in the image and likeness of God Himself (verses 26-27). But it still stands that God made masculinity and what He made was good.

God states dogmatically in Proverbs 20:29: “The glory of young men is their strength ….” The word glory is translated elsewhere in the King James Bible as “beauty,” “bravery,” “honour” and “majesty.” 1 Peter 3:7 contrasts women to men as “the weaker vessel” physically. Passages like Proverbs 31 show God also values true femininity. God made the differences between men and women, and He intended those differences to be appreciated.

The Apostle Peter also commands men to “[give] honour unto the wife,” warning that God would close His ears to men’s prayers if they failed to do so (1 Peter 3:7). The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5 confirmed that in a biblical family structure, wives are subject to husbands as the head of the household (verses 22-24). Immediately after that, he commanded men: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it …. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself” (verses 25, 28).

God made men and women to be complements of each other in one family structure. When the Pharisees asked Jesus Christ what God thought about divorce, He responded: “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4-6; New King James Version).

In other words, God separated humanity into male and female because He wanted to create family. This is a major reason why the masculinity the manosphere peddles is not true masculinity. Very often, it has nothing to do with building a family. Instead, it encourages men to become self-sufficient, viewing the opposite sex as an on-and-off enemy to take advantage of.

In other words, it teaches men to become what feminists are to women.

It’s also worth noting that the manosphere lifestyle encourages sex outside of marriage, which is condemned in the Bible. Jesus Christ said even lusting after a woman in the privacy of a man’s imagination is equivalent to adultery (Matthew 5:27-28)—and adultery is such a serious sin that God commanded the death penalty for it in Old Testament times (Leviticus 20:10). God said in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that unrepentant “fornicators” would be disqualified from salvation.

For true Christians, God has a much higher, worthier standard to reach than anything the manosphere could offer.

“Seeing the full picture of the masculine duty God has vested in you is awesome and inspiring,” Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker writes in Biblical Manhood. “It can also be intimidating, even overwhelming. But take heart. Maturing as a godly man is a lifelong endeavor, and it is never too early or too late to start. Every man struggles. Every man can grow in biblical manhood. You have everything to gain from studying this subject. Every bit of effort you put toward better grasping and fulfilling the powerful, spiritually rich and enriching role God has given you will be worth it.”

God wants every single human He created to reach his full potential (1 Timothy 2:4). He created the true Christian life to be an abundant life (John 10:10)—one of supreme accomplishment and anticipation. This includes success in the unique roles God gave to the two sexes He created. The more a man lives in harmony with this vision, the more he will enjoy life as God intended him to.

To learn more, request your free copy of Biblical Manhood.