Hours before Trump had officially won the election, a white supremacist, misogynistic, and antisemitic internet streamer Nick Fuentes posted the now-viral lines, ‘Your body, my choice. Forever.‘ The lines resonated so widely among the supporters of Trump’s campaign that within a few days, there had been ‘a 4,600% increase in mentions of the terms ‘your body, my choice’ and ‘get back in the kitchen’ on X‘. As the Democrats and political analysts take their time to make sense of the phenomenal victory of a convicted felon, let us take a look at the 2024 election battlefield – women’s body, and its mightiest cavalry, the “disaffected” youth from the manosphere.
Manosphere: from blogs to podcasts, men’s choice
For the uninitiated, Manosphere is a term, derived from the word blogosphere, that surfaced in 2009 in a blog post. Soon after Ian Ironwood, a pornography marketer, aggregated similar posts and blogs into a book titled: Manosphere: New Hopes for Masculinity. On that note let us make a short detour to the origin of their precious new slogan. In 1969 the second wave of feminism, focused on issues like sexuality, reproductive rights, and gender equality, had started gaining momentum. In tandem with their demands, the slogan ‘My body, my choice‘ rose to popularity in rallies and protests.
For the uninitiated, Manosphere is a term, derived from the word blogosphere, that surfaced in 2009 in a blog post.
Thereafter it has traveled around the world and transformed into different expressions and languages – in Pakistan’s Aurat March it became ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi‘, in 2019 ‘My Body is Mine‘ was the tagline of a sex-ed campaign in Malaysia, and so on. A few years later, back in USA, it was appropriated by anti-mask and anti-vax protestors to refuse protective COVID measures and abdicate collective responsibility. It does feel poetic now that the right-wing has embraced the slogan to a point where they have taken misogynist liberties with it. To make the already absurd situation worse, a small group responded to the infuriating slogan by Fuentes with, ‘Your house, My choice‘. After Fuentes was doxxed online, a 57-year-old Mark Rose arrived at his doorstep – only to have been allegedly sprayed at and knocked down by Fuentes.
The 1970s not only saw the birth of the pro-abortion slogan but the beginning of the men’s rights movement. It began as a men’s liberation movement – a space to counter the limiting gender roles and male stereotypes, a true feminist cause if there was one. It quickly turned into a nascent but vocal anti-feminist movement in the shape of the Men’s Rights movement. With the advent of the internet, this subculture found a fertile ground to grow and multiply. Today they are found in their natural habitat as four primary sub-species, aka subreddits – Men’s rights activists (MRAs), Men going their own way (MGTOW), Pick-up artists (PUAs), and the most commonly spotted variant – Involuntary celibates (incels).
MRAs advocate political change that benefits men, PUAs strive to teach men the art of seduction (notable mention: Zak Folkman, one of the crypto punks Trump’s crypto project who used to run a service called “Date Hotter Girls”), MGTOWs avoid women because they are too toxic while incels are self-explanatory (notable mention: Elliot Rodger – the 22-year-old who went on a killing spree in 2014 in California is considered a “true incel hero”). From its ancestry of bloggers, the Manosphere naturally matured into the realm of podcasts and streaming where men with microphones can spend hours talking about nothing. Among glaring misogynists, racists, and bigots, the podcaster who has won the heart and hatred of many would be the accused rapist and human trafficker, Andrew Tate.
Besides telling young men that women “belong” to men, and spamming social media with ‘Make me a sandwich‘, Tate is an ardent supporter of Trump. Tate brothers are only a symptom of the festering podcaster problem. Brett McKay advocates the ‘good old days of rigid gender roles‘, Brian Atlas is your typical sexist dating podcast, and Walter “Fresh” Weekes and Myron “Fit” Gaines embody the aspirational alpha-male energy of the manosphere.
The Un-Musking of the American youth and Trump’s win
This diverse fauna of hollow-men podcasters proliferated in the favorable conditions of social media’s algorithm, written by dude-bros of Silicon Valley. And who is the dudest of all dudes? The champion of the misogynists? None other than Elon Musk. The maverick business tycoon has taken many of us by surprise – from his big-boy jump at Trump’s rally to pumping $130 million into a pro-Trump campaign, to flagging off the new department of DOGE in the government (and not apparently as a joke), it has been quite a year for the man in love with the Red Planet. The question that is in the air is, why is he so interested in the government? Is it money, which has already surged by more than $50 billion in the week after the election?
‘Everything goes to that mission,‘ TIME magazine quoted a member of Musk’s social circle, discussing Musk’s plans ahead. ‘He’s just realizing that being in control, directly or indirectly, of U.S. government budgets, is going to put us on Mars in his lifetime. Doing it privately would be slower.‘
Apparently, the answer also starts with M. ‘Everything goes to that mission,‘ TIME magazine quoted a member of Musk’s social circle, discussing Musk’s plans ahead. ‘He’s just realizing that being in control, directly or indirectly, of U.S. government budgets, is going to put us on Mars in his lifetime. Doing it privately would be slower.‘ Keeping aside his ludicrous agenda, what Musk brought to Trump’s campaign was a face-lift.
Musk has always had an immense following among young men, making him the ideal avatar who is dynamic, unpredictable, and a disruptor. In a podcast (yes, ofcourse a podcast) with Joe Rogan, Elon Musk said ‘The biggest factor here is that men need to vote‘. When 60% of white men turned out for Trump, Musk tweeted: ‘The cavalry has arrived.’ Echoing a not so different frame of mind, Tate tweeted on 6th November – ‘The media and election rigging means you can drag an illiterate retard off the street and compete her against the best president in history and still make the race close because women want abortions. Women shouldn’t be allowed vote.‘
It is not a surprise that we are witnessing a shocking wave of misogynist attacks in the name of abortion now, when the ecosystem has been carefully created over the years. It was never about the fetus, it was always about women’s body. ‘Your body, my choice‘ is not a pro-life mantra but a rape-mongering slogan.
America proved yet again that Trump’s campaign will largely work in his favour by default – when the contender is a woman. Keeping aside policies and ideological fine prints – the misogyny ingrained within the social fabric of the country is baffling. Nick Fuentes, during a live stream after Trump’s official win, said ‘We control your bodies. Guess what, guys win again, okay. Men win again … There will never ever be a female President. It’s over. Glass ceiling? It’s a ceiling made of fucking bricks.‘
As the Manosphere keeps drawing the lines dividing gender roles with manic fervour, the image of Trump’s raised fist (ironically the same fist from the feminist Venus symbol) as the bullet that scratched his ear had bloodied a side of his face keeps flashing before our eyes as the image of masculine victory.
As the Manosphere keeps drawing the lines dividing gender roles with manic fervour, the image of Trump’s raised fist (ironically the same fist from the feminist Venus symbol) as the bullet that scratched his ear had bloodied a side of his face keeps flashing before our eyes as the image of masculine victory. ‘It’s one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life,‘ Meta founder (also mixed martial arts aficionado and anti-woke wannabe alpha) Mark Zuckerberg had told Bloomberg Television shortly after the shooting.
MMA also brings to mind the definite hero from Trump’s podcast journey – Joe Rogan. The months leading up to election day saw the president-elect take the unorthodox route of granting interviews to podcasters like, Lex Fridman, Logan Paul and Adin Ross (he recently interviewed Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes) and Joe Rogan, the latter being the most popular and effective of the series. Joe Rogan, who got a shout-out from Trump on TikTok, had also endorsed ofiicially the Republican candidate.
Rogan, known for his slippery political position, has platformed far-right figures like Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes or comedian Joey Diaz who bragged on his podcast about coercing aspiring female comedians into performing sexual acts for stage time. Rogan has a history of racist comments, defending white male victimhood, and amplifying bigotry. This was evidently on brand for Trump’s campaign. As one of the comments read, ‘No one can convince me Trump isn’t just a bro when it comes down to it‘. He successfully woo-ed the manosphere and the bro-vote paid off.
Trad-wives, Project 2025 and Reich
But is there not another part of the story that we are missing out on? The women who were the shadow battalion – the trad-wives of social media (Nara Smith reigning in that trend). Project 2025 is a conservative initiative by the Heritage Foundation aiming to reshape the U.S. federal government under a potential Republican administration, emphasising traditional values and rolling back progressive policies. The tradwife trend played into Trump’s appeal by aligning with the broader conservative nostalgia for traditional values, which resonated with many of his supporters. It celebrated gender roles that emphasised homemaking and subservience, indirectly reinforcing his campaign’s messaging about ‘restoring America to its former greatness.‘
This movement gained traction among suburban and rural white women, many of whom supported Trump in large numbers. By rejecting feminist ideals and embracing traditionalism, the trend dovetailed with the cultural rhetoric Trump leveraged to galvanise his base. For women and trans women, Project 2025 signals a threat to reproductive rights, workplace protections, and gender-affirming healthcare, reinforcing a rigid, traditional gender order akin to the tradwife ideal. By institutionalising these values, it seeks to create a social and political climate hostile to gender equity and LGBTQ+ rights, amplifying the cultural forces that helped Trump win.
Musk shared a dubious post by Autism Capital – calling the following a Reich effect ‘People who can’t defend themselves physically (women and low T men) parse information through a consensus filter as a safety mechanism… This is why a Republic of high status males is best for decision making. Democratic, but a democracy only for those who are free to think.‘ Beyond the claims, it is interesting to note the mention of Reich. A preliminary search digs up nothing but psychoanalyst Willhelm Reich, whose work investigated the causal relationship between sexual repression and fascism or authoritarianism. As Trump prepares a cabinet with atleast four of his top picks with sexual assault, harassment or child sex trafficking charges on their resume, Project 2025 looks more menacing than ever.
As Trump prepares a cabinet with atleast four of his top picks with sexual assault, harassment or child sex trafficking charges on their resume, Project 2025 looks more menacing than ever.
Of all the things to celebrate after a record victory, a considerable section of Trump’s supporters were focused on their right over women’s bodies as the man who directed them to ‘grab them by the pussy‘ prepares to move into his new lodgings. In this red-pill world where the misogynists believe that society is dominated by women who exploit men, casting male participants as victims of feminism and female independence – it seems almost impossible to dig out the rotten roots. A cocktail of toxic masculinity, misogyny, and self-help rhetoric – Manosphere has grown to become a space for venting grievances, sharing conspiracy theories, and offering advice on fitness, dating, and reclaiming “masculine identity.”
The locker room has now unabashedly moved to America’s most important House. As we slowly destroy our biosphere we create a more favorable ecosystem for the Manosphere, and vice versa. One wonders if movements like 4B will rapidly grow in the country or will the trad-wives reign. Only time will tell, even if we have to turn back the clock and start from the second wave again.
