Photo credit: Bigstockphoto sharafmaksumov
by Gina Griffin, DSW, MSW, LCSW
It’s a familiar scenario for people who use apps like TikTok or Instagram. A content creator makes a seemingly innocuous comment about what it’s like to be a woman, or to date. Initially, the comments section is peopled by women agreeing with or analyzing the content, or sharing their own experiences. But soon, the comments start to fill up with angry commentors who belittle the content, who post veiled or overt threats at the women, and who generally ruin the experience for everyone. This is one of the many ways that misogyny shows up online.
We are living in an age when men often feel more lonely and isolated than their female counterparts (Goddard & Parker, 2025). Much has been said and written about the loneliness epidemic amongst men. In an effort to find help and support for the feelings they have not learned to process, many men turn to the internet. Unfortunately, what they often find are groups that radicalize their beliefs about women.
There are several general brands of misogyny online, although I’m sure I’m not listing them all.
The Manosphere
The Manosphere is a loose network of communities that believe they are fighting gender equality. PUAs, or “Pickup Artists,” are a subset of this group. Men in these spheres present as hypermasculine and overtly hostile toward women. Participants in these forums advocate not taking no for an answer, and they often find sexual assault as an acceptable response to women who do not cooperate (McCullough, 2023). Here, it is believed that women are biologically programmed to be attracted to only a very small percentage of attractive men. The ones who feel left out often become very hostile.
Incel
Incel is a contraction of the term “involuntary celibate.” Incels are a category that feel they have been unsuccessful in romance and feel hopeless. This sometimes has spilled over into violent and hateful feelings online. Incel ideology is founded in the belief that feminists control sex and romance, and that this is unjust. Young men are sometimes recruited via platforms such as Discord or Twitch, and this indoctrination is called "red pilling" or “black pilling” (which is based on the concept of the “red pill” from the Matrix movie franchise).
There have been instances when violent revenge impulses from this community have spilled over into the real world, such as an attack in Canada, where eight women and two men were killed. Those who act on these beliefs in this way are glorified in the community, and described as “saints” (McCullough, 2023).
Passport Bros
Passport Bros are men who have decided that women in the United States (or another home country) have been radicalized by feminism and are thus undesirable. They travel to other countries to find mates they characterize as more submissive and who they believe are more focused on raising a family. They often focus on areas such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
This is an offshoot of the Manosphere. However, these men are often seen as exploiting women from developing countries, and their exploits are frequently seen as sex tourism (Kim, 2023). As one journalist stated, they “don’t seem to be seeking equal partnership, but servitude” (Kim, 2023). And while it is perfectly acceptable for anyone to prefer one type of mate over another, Passport Bros often produce videos that denigrate women from their home countries and focus on what they see as undesirable flaws, such as being independent and earning one’s own income.
Misogynoir
Misogynoir is racism directed specifically at Black women, and the term was adopted by feminist Moya Bailey. Misogynoir manifests in several ways, either bold or subtle. All of these tactics are meant to dehumanize Black women in online spaces. Targeted harassment and abuse can be aimed at celebrities and influencers in their own spaces. Stereotypes and tropes are amplified. Black women are described as less desirable and more problematic by men of this mindset. Unfortunately, many of these are also Black men.
Podcast hosts from the manosphere have often been called out for disparaging and devaluing Black women on their shows, in which they aver that Black women are less attractive, less desirable, and too much to deal with. And overall, they dismiss the experiences of Black women (Mays, 2022).
Transmisogyny
Transmisogyny targets trans women and trans feminine people. It can include intentionally misgendering and deadnaming the women involved. It also includes perpetuating the tropes of trans women as “deceivers” who try to trick them into sexual relationships. Or, in this environment, trans women are often characterized primarily as sexual predators, with no data to support this belief. This creates an atmosphere of fear around trans women. They are also often fetishized and objectified by men. Like many other women, trans women are often the object of targeted harassment and false reporting so that their accounts will be removed and/or demonetized (Fisher et al, 2024).
Application
Fortunately, there are some methods of dealing with misogyny online that may be helpful (UN, 2025). These are:
- Education of younger people to help them to understand equality and what comprises a variety of heathy relationships
- Public education campaigns against misogynist messaging
- Policies that focus on online safety for everyone
- Support for women who have experienced online misogyny
- Further research on these subjects
Social workers can help to educate and support clients in all of these ways. There are even social work content creators who have accounts and followers on multiple platforms that focus on educating the public about important issues, such as the impacts of misogyny.
In the end, misogyny hurts everyone (Sliwa, 2016). And it is often up to social workers to wade into these areas and to help the community work its way back to healthy emotional regulation.
References
Fisher, C. B., Ford, M., & Xiangyu, Tao. (2024). Social media: A double-edged sword for LGBTQ+ Youth. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563224000621
Goddard, I., & Parker, K. (2025). Men, women and social connections. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2025/01/16/men-women-and-social-connections/#:~:text=As%20public%20debate%20and%20discussion,or%20have%20fewer%20close%20friends
Kim, L. (2023). Why “Passport Bros” are being called out for sex tourism. https://junkee.com/articles/what-is-a-passport-bro-sex-tourism-reddit
Mays, J. (2022). Two podcast hosts say they refuse to date Black women: Was this racism? https://medium.com/@jaronmays/two-podcast-host-say-they-refuse-to-date-black-women-was-this-racism-13fe6812e262
McCoullough, S. (2023). Online misogyny: The “Manosphere”: Extremist digital sexism with dangerous real-world consequences. https://humanrights.ca/story/online-misogyny-manosphere
Sliwa, J. (2016). Sexism may be harmful to men’s mental health. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/11/sexism-harmful#:~:text=Sexism%20may%20be%20harmful%20to%20men's%20mental%20health
UN Women. (2025). UN Women sounds the alarm over online misogyny. https://www.un.org/en/delegate/un-women-sounds-alarm-over-online-misogyny#:~:text=These%20narratives%20are%20increasingly%20being,progress%20made%20toward%20gender%20equality.
Dr. Gina Griffin, DSW, MSW, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. In 2012, she completed her Master of Social Work at University of South Florida. And in 2021, she completed her DSW at the University of Southern California. She began to learn R Programming for data analysis in order to develop her research-related skills. She now teaches programming and data science skills through her website (A::ISWR) and free Saturday morning #swRk workshops.
Updated September 30, 2025.