In:Male Separatism: Discourse, ideology, and argumentation
Jessica Aiston
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 104] 2025
► pp. v–vi
Published online: 3 February 2025
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.104.toc
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.104.toc
Table of contents
List of figures
vii
List of tables
ix
Acknowledgements
xiii
Chapter 1.Introduction
1
1.1From #GamerGate to Andrew Tate: The problem of online misogyny
1
1.2Why this book?
6
1.3Outline and author stance
9
Chapter 2.MGTOW, the manosphere, and antifeminist backlash
12
2.1Backlash and resistance to feminism
12
2.2Historical overview
17
2.2.1The men’s liberation movement
17
2.2.2The men’s rights movement
18
2.2.3The mythopoetic men’s movement
20
2.3The manosphere
21
2.3.1Contemporary men’s rights activists
23
2.3.2Incels
25
2.3.3Pick-up artists
28
2.3.4Men going their own way
29
2.4Conclusions
33
Chapter 3.A discourse-historical approach to the manosphere
36
3.1The discourse-historical approach
37
3.1.1Argumentation in the DHA
41
3.1.2Applying the DHA to Reddit
45
3.2Feminist theories
47
3.3Data collection
50
3.3.1What is Reddit?
51
3.3.2Ethical considerations when studying online misogyny
52
3.4Methods of analysis
56
3.5Summary
60
Chapter 4.Self-representation
61
4.1Representation of the MGTOW subreddit
61
4.1.1Sidebar description
61
4.1.2Rules of participation
63
4.1.3User descriptions
66
4.2Representation of the MGTOW lifestyle
69
4.2.1Transformational narratives
69
4.2.2Hobbies and lifestyle
74
4.3Representation of MGTOW ideology
80
4.3.1MGTOW does not need to recruit
80
4.3.2MGTOW is ‘the truth’
83
4.3.3MGTOW as censored
86
4.4Conclusions
90
Chapter 5.Representation of women and relationships
93
5.1Representation of women
93
5.1.1‘All women are like that’
95
5.1.2Women are promiscuous
100
5.1.3Women are deceitful
104
5.2Representations of relationships
107
5.2.1Relationships are a financial burden
109
5.2.2‘Divorce rape’ and the risks of divorce
115
5.2.3Abusive relationships and false allegations of abuse
118
5.3Conclusions
122
Chapter 6.Representation of feminism and gendered power relations
126
6.1Representation of feminism
126
6.1.1Postfeminist positions
129
6.1.2Anti-equality backlash positions
131
6.1.3Pro-equality backlash positions
135
6.1.4Pro-feminist positions
140
6.2Gendered power relations
146
6.2.1Gynocentrism
146
6.2.2Misandry
153
6.3Conclusions
159
Chapter 7.Conclusions
162
7.1Summary of findings
162
7.2Areas for future research
170
7.3Closing remarks
174
References
177
Index
201
