In the last 20 or so years the internet and use of social media has made it possible for humanity to become ever more connected, the entirety of human knowledge is literally available to anyone with internet access. Its become exceedingly easy to communicate and spread messages no matter where you are. Normally one would look to these as great triumphs, however as the people became more connected there are those who saw an opportunity to spread their own message and ideals to those who were vulnerable.
There are two groups of people to whom this issue concerns, the first being the isolated and insecure male population sometimes referred derogatorily as “Incels” or “Basement dwellers”. These men and sometimes boys are found to be lacking in positive male role models either in their social or family life. they therefore turn to the internet where they find others whom also feel this way and unfortunately fall into fringe groups that share highly devise and often hateful opinions about other groups. It must be said that these groups often share a misogynistic viewpoint but are quite ethnically diverse. It is therefore an international issue and not just one to be found in Europe and the the Americas. Something that you should keep in mind is that these men and boys are just as much victims as they are perpetrators, its is even possible to document the change in their opinions simply by looking at their internet comments, the easiest to access is YouTube and twitter as it is publicly available, the videos and posts they like, the comments they leave and the channels and accounts they follow. This however leads to the 2nd group of the issue, the role models.
As these men and boys lack a male role model in their daily life, they find one on the internet. sometimes it can be quite wholesome and even intellectual, perhaps finding a motivational speaker who exercises or a scientist or historian with videos that peak their interest or even a niche hobby such was Warhammer 40k, even popular youtubers who might just play a video game. Unfortunately not all young men find there way to these kinds of people. Its isn’t even necessary for their role models to be good or educational, it is enough if it does not create a hateful and spiteful young person. Therein lies the issue, there has been a rise in the number of toxic male role models, these days most people are aware of them through Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms. Some of the more noteworthy ones that have particularly large followings are Andrew and Tristan Tate, Elon Musk and even a fictional character such as Patrick Bateman from American Psycho Played by Christian Bale. The initial two are real individuals whom have large followings and vast amounts of wealth, wealth that is often obtained through questionable means, with the Tate brothers most recently found to be charged with sex trafficking. However even after being changed their following did not end, If anything it emboldened their most fanatical supporters. Platforms such as Twitter now known as X are arguably the biggest reason for this as anyone can make an account, there is not age verification so it is exceedingly easy to create an account before one is an adult and with these role models posting and sharing with no regulation or moderation we will likely see a rise in these kinds of individuals in the future.
Not to end on a sad note but there are plenty of positive role models to whom young men can look up to, personal favourite of mine is Henry Cavill who played Superman is Man of Steel, he is however also a massive nerd to whom I can relate as a I feel many other young men also feel.
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