The Manosphere Is Coming for Women at Work

Every so often, we come up with new language for old ideas that weren’t any good in the first place. This is what is happening with the manosphere — yet another attempt to dominate women, dismiss their abilities, and force them into subservient roles. Rather than carrying a caveman’s club, these beliefs now come dressed in a hoodie. But make no mistake about it — these ideas are just as dangerous as they’ve always been.

Women have made enormous strides in equality at work and home in recent decades, and the manosphere seeks to undo that progress. Sadly, this worldview is alive and well — just look at these numbers from Lean In’s new research on adults in the U.S.:

• 47% of men believe that men should be the primary earners for their families.
• 42% of men believe that men are naturally better suited for leadership.
• 34% of men believe that women are too emotional for high-pressure roles.

It’s no coincidence that these ideologies are holding strong when 9 in 10 adults have seen manosphere or tradwife content in the last year. Men who see it frequently are about three times as likely to hold these retrograde stances as those who rarely or never see it. And men don’t have to find it appealing for it to stick; those who view tradwife content frequently but say they don’t find it appealing are still about twice as likely to agree with sexist statements as men who rarely see it. Women are significantly less likely to have these views, even among frequent viewers.

As these dangerous ideas permeate our culture, they poison our workplaces, our economy, and our homes. Here’s how:

At work: Lean In’s new research shows that 6 in 10 employees have heard at least one of these sexist views circulating at work. Women who hear comments like this also receive more gender-biased feedback: they are four times more likely to be told they’re not seen as leaders, and over seven times more likely to be told they’re too emotional. The truth? Women may actually be less likely than men to act on our emotions when leading, and dozens of studies show women leaders can improve business outcomes.

In the economy: Keeping women from working outside the home and taking on leadership roles drags the economy down. If women’s workforce participation were to reach the higher levels seen in peer countries, the U.S. economy could grow an additional 4.2%. When women are not well represented in leadership, companies can lose out on revenue, employee motivation, and innovation.

At home: Couples with less egalitarian gender roles tend to have higher divorce rates, and children with working mothers are as happy as those whose moms stay home. Young men who engage heavily with manosphere content report higher psychological distress — a sign that the guys advancing these ideas may actually be harming other men.

It can feel like we’re swimming upstream against this tide of toxicity, but we can stay vigilant to keep this from undoing progress. Here’s what we can do to combat this thinking:

• Don’t let statements pass. Challenge sexist rhetoric, rather than dismissing it. Ongoing conversations and counter-messaging can shift these beliefs.
• Share this data with men in your life, especially “men in the middle” who aren’t misogynists or allies, but could perhaps be convinced either way.
• If you’re a parent, pay attention to what your sons are consuming. Talk to them from a young age about equality and supporting women, so their beliefs are formed before the manosphere finds them. Once they’re online, proactively ask what they’re seeing and what they think of it, and share your own views. Experts say frequent, honest conversations with trusted adults can help boys distance themselves from sexist beliefs.
• If you’re a senior leader, especially a man, call out sexism and model fairness in hiring, raises, promotions, and performance reviews. Younger men take cues from men at the top.
• If you’re a working woman, keep receipts. Track wins and outcomes so you have specifics to counter gendered feedback about leadership potential or emotionality.

Women have been battling ideas like these for generations, and we have many victories under our belts. We’ve got to fight back, together.

— Sheryl Sandberg, Founder, LeanIn.Org