The manosphere, which radicalises men and boys online, is no longer a secret. In fact, one report says it takes only 23 to 26 minutes for boys to be recommended misogynistic content when they log into mainstream social media sites.

It’s a disturbing trend that plays out with heartbreaking consequences in Netflix’s much-discussed 2025 series Adolescence, but it’s also playing out in the real world, where violence against women and girls has become a national emergency.

It’s the age of “influencers” like Andrew Tate and world leaders like President Donald Trump — and it can all feel rather bleak — in fact, it’s easy to imagine that the manosphere will continue to grow, claiming the minds of more and more boys and men with no hope of recovery. Here in the UK, the government is only just beginning to take the threat of the manosphere seriously — apparently, it took a hyped Netflix show to spur them into action. But so far, it hasn’t been nearly enough.

However, there is perhaps one glimmer of hope. Some men who have fallen into these online misogynistic communities have started attempting to break free from the manosphere. There are growing communities where previously ‘red-pilled’ men come together to unlearn the misogyny that has been spoon-fed to them online.

The term ‘red-pilled’ originates from a Reddit community, known as r/TheRedPill, which is itself derived from a scene in the 1999 film The Matrix, in which Keanu Reeves must choose from the blue pill or the red pill, the latter of which will open his eyes to a life-changing reality. For those in the manosphere, the red pill refers to a ‘reality’ in which men are the ones being oppressed by women, not the other way around.

Joshua Thorburn is a researcher completing his PhD in Criminology at Monash University. He studies online communities to try and “develop a more nuanced and thorough understanding of misogynistic incels (incels.is) and the broader manosphere (e.g. r/TheRedPill).”

Overall, his research has found that there are benefits to these counter-manosphere movements online.

“My research found that some people who had believed in manosphere ideas found r/ExRedPill and r/IncelExit [Reddit communities countering the manosphere] to be helpful spaces for many reasons,” he tells us. “Some used the forums to query certain manosphere ideas and gauge outside opinions. Because many people drawn to the manosphere seem to have difficulties with body image and self-esteem, others sought social and emotional support as they discussed these issues outside the manosphere.”

These spaces also offered men an alternative narrative to the Red Pill ideology that women are only attracted to men who are, for instance, “Over six feet tall, muscular, rich, dominant and emotionally stoic.”

“In r/ExRedPill and r/IncelExit, while such issues with self-esteem and body image are still often discussed, other users respond empathetically and offer more realistic and nuanced advice,” he says.

Gus*, who is from the northeast of the U.S. and in his early 20s, is a member of the r/ExRedPill community on Reddit.

“I’ve come to realise (and to some extent, I knew all along) that the ideology simply isn’t true,” he says anonymously of his reasons for seeking alternative ways of thinking. “You don’t really need this or that to find love or follow some script of what it means to be some ‘giga sigma ligma’ alpha male or whatever the f*** just so people like you.”