The Lancet Commission: the manosphere harms the health of boys and men and demands a public health response

What the report says

The manosphere — a loose network of online communities that claim to speak to men's issues but often place blame on women and feminism — is causing an underappreciated harm to health and requires a response through social and economic policy. That is the conclusion of a commission whose report has been published in The Lancet; as covered by Euronews. The authors list consequences for boys and men, women and girls, and society as a whole: social isolation, reluctance to seek mental health help, and gender-based violence.

Why the manosphere is appealing and who benefits

“The manosphere gives boys and young men a sense of belonging, identity, and an explanation for why life is hard,” said report co-author Sarah Hawkes, co-founder of the Global 50/50 think tank. The authors note that within these communities there are clear hierarchies of masculinity, “based primarily on physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status,” and that idealized images of the male body — low body fat, muscularity, hypermasculine features — are linked to body dissatisfaction and psychological distress. The report also points to commercial incentives: sustaining such communities can be a profitable model that exploits outrage and resentment and rewards the most extreme content. “Boys and men are not the problem,” said co-author Kent Buse. “The problem is the conditions that leave them isolated and without a secure future, and the companies profiting from their anger and insecurity.”

What the authors propose

Reducing the risks, in the commission's view, requires addressing the conditions that sustain the manosphere's appeal: economic insecurity (through employment and social protection policy), boys' disengagement from education, and limited access to mental health and other support. Therefore, the report emphasizes, content moderation alone is insufficient: restricting manosphere material does not resolve the unmet needs that make its explanations seem appealing. “We need to offer boys something better, not just tell them what to avoid,” said Hawkes. The authors draw on public health experience in combating gender-based violence and drug use, where the emphasis is on root causes, fighting stigma, and access to services rather than punishment. “Public health has a proven toolkit for commercial harms, and we should use it,” Buse added.

The broader context

The report goes beyond the manosphere and documents broader problems: boys are increasingly falling out of education systems, men are overrepresented in suicide and incarceration statistics, and in health care and social services men and boys — especially those marginalized by social and structural factors — face significant unmet needsthat existing policies, systems, and services fail to adequately address. This follows from a companion publication in The Lancet on which the commission's report draws.