“The term was adopted by the “manosphere” – the online realm inhabited by extreme misogynists.”
SIGH. Sure, Jan.
Had to give up after that. If we’re not dealing in facts from the start, then we can’t have an honest conversation.
>*Women are increasingly joining extremist groups, demanding the removal of their own rights and submission to men. Our Writer at Large explores the disturbing phenomenon**
>YOU’VE probably heard of “red-pilling”. It’s internet slang that originates from the cult sci-fi movie The Matrix.
>In the film, characters are offered the choice to take a red pill. If they do, their illusions are shattered and they come to see the dark truth of how the world really works.
>The term was adopted by the “manosphere” – the online realm inhabited by extreme misogynists. That’s pretty ironic as The Matrix was created by two trans women, Lana and Lilly Wachowski. However, it’s also rather fitting. As you’ll discover, much of what follows often filters through today’s so-called gender wars.
>The notion of “red-pilling” also caught on with the extreme far right. Those who espoused conspiracy theories and hate around anti-Semitism, white supremacy, homophobia and misogyny claimed to have “taken the red pill”. The term was nearly always used by men and about men.
>However, as we’ve seen over recent years, women are increasingly prominent in the ranks of the far right and the populist right. In America, Donald Trump’s MAGA movement boasts plenty of women, many of whom want to strip abortion rights from other women.
>The far-right Giorgia Meloni runs Italy, pushing a “family, faith and flag” agenda. In France, the far-right Marine Le Pen, who is virulently anti-immigrant, could soon be president. Closer to home, Britain First – considered a fascist party – had Jayda Fransen as deputy leader.
>There’s an equivalent expression to “red-pilling” when it comes to the radicalisation of women: getting “pink-pilled”. Indeed, that’s the title of the forthcoming book by the investigative journalist Lois Shearing, which explores the phenomenon of women who hate. Shearing spent almost two years uncovering what it means to be a woman in the far right.
>Shearing has skin in the game, however. The author of Pink Pilled: Women and the Far-right identifies as genderfluid. To extremists, that makes Shearing the enemy.
>**Poster-girl**
>Lauren Southern is perhaps the poster girl for what it means to be a woman in the far right. The Canadian made a career out extremism online and was banned from entering Britain.
>America’s hate-monitoring organisation The Southern Poverty Law Centre said: “Her anti-feminist, xenophobic, Islamophobic diatribes tiptoe at the precipice of outright white nationalism, while she coyly smiles at her viewers in a video on her YouTube channel alongside a graphic reading ‘I am not a Nazi’.”
>Today, across the West, there are millions like Southern. Shearing believes it’s thanks to society’s inherent sexism that most people tend to see the far right as a male realm. Women can be just as hateful, the writer says.
>The role of women in the far right first captured Shearing’s attention when the writer began exploring the manosphere. It was a “mirror”, Shearing says, “reflecting back” some of the most hateful views in society.
>The manosphere drips with misogyny and homophobia. Delving into the manosphere felt like a “form of self-torture”, but Shearing ploughed on as it was clear these sites had become a major “radicalising force” in the modern world.
>Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s most prominent supporters and chief strategist during his first White House term, was, says Shearing, an early idol for the manosphere. From investigating extremist male culture online, Shearing began exploring the radicalisation of women.
>The writer uncovered a world of female influencers promoting ideas like “biblical womanhood”. Multiple websites and social media channels, with huge follower numbers, pushed “bigotry dolled up in fairy lights”, and promoted “Christian nationalist” lifestyles for young women.
>“I was struck by how much the content was almost identical to the manosphere,” the writer says. The content is “incredibly anti-feminist, very racist and very Islamophobic”.
>Shearing wanted to know “why women would be parroting this stuff? How could they not see this was just so bad for them? They’re talking about how women shouldn’t have their own bank accounts when they’re married. It just seemed absolutely bizarre and I was fascinated”.
>After lengthy investigations, Shearing says there are multiple reasons why women embrace the far right. Some women come to extremism through family and tradition, usually “evangelical women”.
>“It’s very much about their religious upbringing. They’re taught from a young age that their role is to be what they call a ‘helpmeet’ – that they exist just to serve men.”
>For other women it’s “very much about whiteness, they’re drawn to these movements because while they’re marginalised as women, these movements offer them power as white women. To be revered as white women is a very big draw for a lot of women in the far right”.
>Other women are sucked in through a combination of loneliness and a need for community. Particularly during Covid, many women – just like many men – found themselves isolated and drawn to online communities. Fears about vaccines and lockdowns were often a gateway to extremist communities online and from there some women found themselves getting deeper and deeper into far-right ideology.
>The dreadful irony for women who think they’ve found “sisterhood” in the far right, says Shearing, is that these movements are dominated by men who both “hate women”, yet tell women “you’ll be looked after, you’ll be treated like the mother of the nation. That’s a really powerful narrative for women who feel powerless”.
>Shearing discovered that the more isolated a woman was, the more “vulnerable” she is to radicalisation. “Religious communities and traditional households” tend to leave woman more isolated than their peers. However, Shearing says that everyone has it in them “to be radicalised, we all have weaknesses that can be exploited”.
[removed]
How do you account for Marie Le Penne she doesn’t strike me as ‘a useful idiot’ neither does the PM of Italy. Margaret Thatcher was no one’s useful idiot. Trying to argue that women aren’t attracted to facism for the same reasons as men does them the ultimate disrespect. Why shouldn’t women become facist is a better question? Facism isn’t a gender philosophy it’s based on extreme prejudice and conservatism which includes ant-gay which affects men as well as women. The sheer number of women Trump supporters should be enough to tell you that unless he has some kind of ‘mind control’ the gender premise is false.
Great article, but they never cross the line and ask critical questions.
Who controls the right wing media in the UK?
Who funded Yaxley Lennon?
Who donated several million to trump?
Who funded the anti-abortion activity?
The far right will continue to rise until people can answer the above questions correctly and deal with it accordingly. Sadly, it requires accountability and for proponents of western values to admit: “we are wrong”. Sol will destroy Earth before that ever happens.
Fascists, racists and bullies are almost always cowards, driven by fear.
If family and tradition are far right remedies to loneliness and isolation, what are the other side of the isle offering?
And transphobic “feminists” are a central component of that milieu.
Genuine solutions require addressing structural inequalities, not broad-brushing millions under inflammatory labels.
Seems these women want to go back socially to where they were before the push to make them Worker Drones was touted as equality. My daughter gets the 6:30 train into London does a full days work gets home to two hungry kids does her best for them goes to bed gets up and the cycle continues. No time for herself and too knackered for any meaningful relationship. This is the reality for millions of women in the modern feminist liberated World. Told for years they can have it all but no mention of the cost to their health and well being. Led by the nose now reality is dawning. Women’s raisin d’etre is quality of life and the fulfilment it brings. So slag these women off all you want maybe they’ve got it right. They are taking back control of their lives and their families lives. Society will be a much better place from them and their communities.
10 comments
“The term was adopted by the “manosphere” – the online realm inhabited by extreme misogynists.”
SIGH. Sure, Jan.
Had to give up after that. If we’re not dealing in facts from the start, then we can’t have an honest conversation.
>*Women are increasingly joining extremist groups, demanding the removal of their own rights and submission to men. Our Writer at Large explores the disturbing phenomenon**
>YOU’VE probably heard of “red-pilling”. It’s internet slang that originates from the cult sci-fi movie The Matrix.
>In the film, characters are offered the choice to take a red pill. If they do, their illusions are shattered and they come to see the dark truth of how the world really works.
>The term was adopted by the “manosphere” – the online realm inhabited by extreme misogynists. That’s pretty ironic as The Matrix was created by two trans women, Lana and Lilly Wachowski. However, it’s also rather fitting. As you’ll discover, much of what follows often filters through today’s so-called gender wars.
>The notion of “red-pilling” also caught on with the extreme far right. Those who espoused conspiracy theories and hate around anti-Semitism, white supremacy, homophobia and misogyny claimed to have “taken the red pill”. The term was nearly always used by men and about men.
>However, as we’ve seen over recent years, women are increasingly prominent in the ranks of the far right and the populist right. In America, Donald Trump’s MAGA movement boasts plenty of women, many of whom want to strip abortion rights from other women.
>The far-right Giorgia Meloni runs Italy, pushing a “family, faith and flag” agenda. In France, the far-right Marine Le Pen, who is virulently anti-immigrant, could soon be president. Closer to home, Britain First – considered a fascist party – had Jayda Fransen as deputy leader.
>There’s an equivalent expression to “red-pilling” when it comes to the radicalisation of women: getting “pink-pilled”. Indeed, that’s the title of the forthcoming book by the investigative journalist Lois Shearing, which explores the phenomenon of women who hate. Shearing spent almost two years uncovering what it means to be a woman in the far right.
>Shearing has skin in the game, however. The author of Pink Pilled: Women and the Far-right identifies as genderfluid. To extremists, that makes Shearing the enemy.
>**Poster-girl**
>Lauren Southern is perhaps the poster girl for what it means to be a woman in the far right. The Canadian made a career out extremism online and was banned from entering Britain.
>America’s hate-monitoring organisation The Southern Poverty Law Centre said: “Her anti-feminist, xenophobic, Islamophobic diatribes tiptoe at the precipice of outright white nationalism, while she coyly smiles at her viewers in a video on her YouTube channel alongside a graphic reading ‘I am not a Nazi’.”
>Today, across the West, there are millions like Southern. Shearing believes it’s thanks to society’s inherent sexism that most people tend to see the far right as a male realm. Women can be just as hateful, the writer says.
>The role of women in the far right first captured Shearing’s attention when the writer began exploring the manosphere. It was a “mirror”, Shearing says, “reflecting back” some of the most hateful views in society.
>The manosphere drips with misogyny and homophobia. Delving into the manosphere felt like a “form of self-torture”, but Shearing ploughed on as it was clear these sites had become a major “radicalising force” in the modern world.
>Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s most prominent supporters and chief strategist during his first White House term, was, says Shearing, an early idol for the manosphere. From investigating extremist male culture online, Shearing began exploring the radicalisation of women.
>The writer uncovered a world of female influencers promoting ideas like “biblical womanhood”. Multiple websites and social media channels, with huge follower numbers, pushed “bigotry dolled up in fairy lights”, and promoted “Christian nationalist” lifestyles for young women.
>“I was struck by how much the content was almost identical to the manosphere,” the writer says. The content is “incredibly anti-feminist, very racist and very Islamophobic”.
>Shearing wanted to know “why women would be parroting this stuff? How could they not see this was just so bad for them? They’re talking about how women shouldn’t have their own bank accounts when they’re married. It just seemed absolutely bizarre and I was fascinated”.
>After lengthy investigations, Shearing says there are multiple reasons why women embrace the far right. Some women come to extremism through family and tradition, usually “evangelical women”.
>“It’s very much about their religious upbringing. They’re taught from a young age that their role is to be what they call a ‘helpmeet’ – that they exist just to serve men.”
>For other women it’s “very much about whiteness, they’re drawn to these movements because while they’re marginalised as women, these movements offer them power as white women. To be revered as white women is a very big draw for a lot of women in the far right”.
>Other women are sucked in through a combination of loneliness and a need for community. Particularly during Covid, many women – just like many men – found themselves isolated and drawn to online communities. Fears about vaccines and lockdowns were often a gateway to extremist communities online and from there some women found themselves getting deeper and deeper into far-right ideology.
>The dreadful irony for women who think they’ve found “sisterhood” in the far right, says Shearing, is that these movements are dominated by men who both “hate women”, yet tell women “you’ll be looked after, you’ll be treated like the mother of the nation. That’s a really powerful narrative for women who feel powerless”.
>Shearing discovered that the more isolated a woman was, the more “vulnerable” she is to radicalisation. “Religious communities and traditional households” tend to leave woman more isolated than their peers. However, Shearing says that everyone has it in them “to be radicalised, we all have weaknesses that can be exploited”.
[removed]
How do you account for Marie Le Penne she doesn’t strike me as ‘a useful idiot’ neither does the PM of Italy. Margaret Thatcher was no one’s useful idiot. Trying to argue that women aren’t attracted to facism for the same reasons as men does them the ultimate disrespect. Why shouldn’t women become facist is a better question? Facism isn’t a gender philosophy it’s based on extreme prejudice and conservatism which includes ant-gay which affects men as well as women. The sheer number of women Trump supporters should be enough to tell you that unless he has some kind of ‘mind control’ the gender premise is false.
Great article, but they never cross the line and ask critical questions.
Who controls the right wing media in the UK?
Who funded Yaxley Lennon?
Who donated several million to trump?
Who funded the anti-abortion activity?
The far right will continue to rise until people can answer the above questions correctly and deal with it accordingly. Sadly, it requires accountability and for proponents of western values to admit: “we are wrong”. Sol will destroy Earth before that ever happens.
Fascists, racists and bullies are almost always cowards, driven by fear.
If family and tradition are far right remedies to loneliness and isolation, what are the other side of the isle offering?
And transphobic “feminists” are a central component of that milieu.
Genuine solutions require addressing structural inequalities, not broad-brushing millions under inflammatory labels.
Seems these women want to go back socially to where they were before the push to make them Worker Drones was touted as equality. My daughter gets the 6:30 train into London does a full days work gets home to two hungry kids does her best for them goes to bed gets up and the cycle continues. No time for herself and too knackered for any meaningful relationship. This is the reality for millions of women in the modern feminist liberated World. Told for years they can have it all but no mention of the cost to their health and well being. Led by the nose now reality is dawning. Women’s raisin d’etre is quality of life and the fulfilment it brings. So slag these women off all you want maybe they’ve got it right. They are taking back control of their lives and their families lives. Society will be a much better place from them and their communities.
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