“Take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I can show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I’m offering is the truth, nothing more.” Morpheus said to Neo.
This quote from The Matrix was meant to be an offering of the truth– staunch symbolism for having the courage to face life-changing choices and difficult truths. Little did the creators of this film know that these words would take on a whole new meaning just twenty years down the line, fueling the fire of an online movement that distorts the original message into something far more contentious.
The taking of the “red pill” has become a metaphor synonymous with toxic and divisive rhetoric thinly veiled in a supposed awakening to harsh realities about gender dynamics. Much like in The Matrix, one is believed to not receive these supposed truths without entering a rebellious group to help others “wake up;” in the case of these red pill rebels, this space is called the manosphere.
♂︎ Manosphere Mania: What does this all mean?
The manosphere is a tangled web of forums, blogs, and social media spaces that get more radical the deeper one goes. Just scratching the surface, there is “looksmaxxing” content that pushes an unhealthy beauty ideal for men, perpetuated by self-proclaimed “alpha males” like Andrew Cobra Tate, a known antagonist whose home has previously been raided for sex trafficking and the exploitation of women more than once. This rabbit hole reaches down to the deepest, most depraved corners of the internet in forums like 4chan and 8chan, where self-proclaimed involuntary celibates– or incels for short– spout misogynistic rhetoric that is founded in the idea that women are evil for not sleeping with them.
Going back up to the surface, platforms like Reddit, YouTube and TikTok have been instrumental in spreading these ideals. Influencers in the manosphere often create content targeting young men, capitalizing on feelings of loneliness, rejection, and/or frustration. These figures posit that they are only mentors– like a modern-day Morpheus– offering what they pass off as practical advice on dating and self-improvement while subliminally embedding misogynistic messages in their posts. This messaging is resounding, especially among college-aged men, pandering to broad and relatable issues of rejection and self-doubt.
Gender dynamics are paramount in modern romance and relationships, especially in digital spaces. All of these hot-button issues and contentious debates can be found among all demographics on campus and it’s all rooted in the same source– our generation’s easy access to the internet. All across Stetson University’s campus people scroll through phones and laptops, seeing grifters and “sigma males,” proposing negative ideals about dating, hookup culture and gender roles in relationships and society. This cultural phenomenon leaves many astounded; fragments of red-pill culture on my campus? It’s more likely than you think.
♂︎Stetson “Sigma Males” and “Soy Boys”
Although a rather sensitive subject, some men on Stetson’s campus were willing to share their thoughts on this phenomenon.
John Young `26 expresses that his understanding of red-pill culture is due to his longstanding presence on the internet. “I’ve been online, YouTube, Instagram, all the social media sites, and I have come across a lot of the videos and influencers of the manosphere,” Young said. “My understanding of the manosphere is that it’s intended to sort of uplift men…to make them feel more masculine and more secure in masculinity…but at the same time [they] push a sort of socio-political agenda of male superiority,” Young explained.
Harboring a similar understanding, Sean McGrane `26 said, “I’ve not heard of the manosphere. I have heard of red pill culture.” McGrane elaborated, “My understanding of it is mostly from memes about it that come up on my YouTube feed…I don’t have social media, so I don’t get an [Instagram] or a TikTok, anything like that. But I do see YouTube shorts and my YouTube creators that I subscribe to post memes about, like, Red Pill culture.”
When asked his opinion on the message portrayed in many a manosphere post, Young continued, “For the most part, I’ve seen it’s very sort of anti-women, anti-women’s liberation, very pro-male dominance, whether it’s in a family setting, a romantic setting, or socio-economic setting, and from what I’ve seen, it’s very toxic.”
This perception of vitriol was not unique to Young. McGrane, although not very present online, expressed his awareness of the toxicity of top manosphere content creators, and how their followers ascribe to the lifestyle of “known scumbag, Andrew Tate.”
Elaborating on this point, Young said, “A lot of the influencers are very toxic…They’re very bad influences on young men, especially in our modern age where information and technology are so freely available, and you know young teenager or pre-teen can come across a video like that and be influenced by it going forward in life.”
But eventually, opinions splinter and we can see where influence and bias enter the equation on both ends.
The adoption of this “red pill” ideology is not without its consequences. Although it may begin as something innocent, a comment here and there on a forum or two soon begins to take over, much like any mediatized movement. We find ourselves actively participating in the commodification of daily social ritual; this time we find it not in dating, but in the lack thereof. Grifters have and will continue to capitalize on widespread feelings of loneliness, rejection, and frustration, positioning themselves as mentors to men just looking for some outlet.