An Encounter with the Androsphere
By accidental tradition, one of the last posts before the Passage's holiday break which begins on Dec. 18 is a piece of social criticism. Grab your shortbread and settle in!
My French tutor, Mme Danielle, suggested I watch a Tele-Quebec documentary, "Alphas", by Simon Coutu; I was prepared for a barrage of rapid French, but was even more challenged by the content, even though hyper-masculinity, currently known as the androsphere or manosphere, has been known to me since the skating rink near my house in the late 1950s, where the big boys would snap their skate guards on my head should I veer on figure skates into their speed lane. "Boys only!", they would command; I fled, terrified.
These days, the androsphere is both a virtual and physical presence where men from late teens to roughly forties gather to assert their primacy. The documentary shows them as predominantly white, homophobic, anti-feminist, and devoted to physical training.
The manosphere's superstars promote a lifestyle of fast cars, luxury watches and "hot chicks"— and spawn a legion of wannabes. There are aspects I respect: the encouragement toward disciplined personal habits—reminiscent of the early Jordan Peterson's exhortations to young males to make their beds daily—and the instruction in entrepreneurship, but these are overshadowed by the power dynamics.
If married, the man is the provider, the woman labours in the home and is willingly submissive. (He submits to the will of God, she submits to him.) Their justification is that women are biologically programmed to desire dominant, powerful men, so they're restoring the natural order. Emotional labour is devalued. "I used to listen and try to understand a woman; now I don't do that anymore", one leader says.
I shuddered at an enthusiastic display of automatic firearms in the film, and imagined many viewers in Montréal would, too. A landmark femicide in Canada occurred here on December 6, 1989, now the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. As Allison Hanes wrote on December 6, 2024 in The Gazette, "The duty of remembrance remains strong in this city."
According to the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, every 2.5 days a woman or girl in this country is killed by violence; firearms are the most common method. (Source.) Correlation is not causation, as the researchers remind us, but the misogyny in the masculinist movement is too blatant to dismiss its danger.
I'm hoping "Alphas" is soon available with English subtitles, and that you see and discuss the film with friends and family.
Young adult males have burdens. Several of our sons' friends are in the midst of divorce or separation, and job precarity; they are depressed; their families live far away. However, they are not likely to be drafted as Alphas. Their BS detectors are intact, they are kind and have supportive friends.
When I scan the ads for certain Alpha seminars, I sense that the promise to become "a real man" (for three days and $1, 800) is a powerful lure for the disaffected. The youngest attendees in "Alphas" seem rapt students, but there is no dialog; they are shown only nodding assent. In "Alphas", the sole exchange of perspectives is a segment filmed in a college classroom, when a faculty member leads a discussion.
I wonder, How do we in the Passage support young men's growth? What are our assumptions about roles and gender? How might they develop as humans, regardless of sex?
Grandmothers and aunts, cousines and copines, what do you think?
Comments
Scientists (top end employees) and mariners (bottom end) all treat female employees with the respect they deserve. I can only assume that the men in suits, and male chauvinists everywhere are hiding their massive inferiority complexes behind their egos.
Thank you for raising an interesting topic.
It feels as though there is an odd polarisation online between people demanding an absurd level of consideration and protection from anything that might question their pre-set beliefs and/or expectations, and those at the other end of the scale promoting this sort of exploitative trash. I suppose that's what gets the clicks...
We all need to provide thoughtful support to our young brothers, sons and grandsons to help them navigate this minefield, but how we should actually do that is sometimes hard to know because for women of our age modern life often feels like terra incognita! Or is that just me ;)
I've watched it times over. Both the text and his delivery are terrific.
It’s hard to not feel sorry for young men who think that fast cars, domination, and indifference to the needs of others will result in successful careers and relationships. Calling themselves “alphas” isn’t going to negate the loneliness and unhappiness that lies in wait for them.
My sons talk about ‘incels’ which stands for ‘involuntary celibate’. Google it your mind will be blown. Under the guise of choosing celibacy they promote misogyny and hate towards females even go so far to claim that women who refuse to have sex with them are committing reverse rape! They are mostly young people who don’t know how to interact socially and see a woman’s ‘no’ as a personal rejection.
A close friend’s husband is a University professor and a Muslim. One day son challenged his mother as to why she didn’t wear hijab, mom replied that although she was observant it wasn’t something she felt she needed to wear. Her son commented that she was being disrespectful to the ‘men’ in the family and setting a bad example…Dad immediately sat son down and asked where he was getting this info from. Turns out there were a group of young men at the high school ‘recruiting’ To be clear they were not religion based but were hitting up on boys of all colours and religions honing in on mothers and/or sisters who may be examples of ‘disrespectful women’. My friend’s husband jumped in right away because he says it’s prevalent at the University level but was shocked that this attitude towards women had filtered down to high school level. My sons do not see this as much within their cohort, a mixed community of gay and straight, married, single, some with kids…but they do see it around them and #2 who spends a lot of time in Montréal reports that the ‘rise of the he man woman haters’ is definitely a thing he’s noticed. The Sons of Odin have a strong base in Québec as well as other far right or historically misogynistic groups like the motorcycle gangs and organized crime groups.
We have always taught inclusiveness and that girls were every bit as capable as boys in all areas. As long as men like Donald Trump keep getting voted in younger men will feel that being a bully is always how a ‘real man’ garners respect…makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. Look how gleefully DT called out Kristia Freeland as ‘toxic’ when she resigned.
Duchesse thank you for bringing this topic forward. I have been searching for a name/explanation for the group of men who will be running my country in just over a week. I fear and grieve for myself, the women in my family and all women who will live in a country of Alpha Supremacy.