Louis Theroux’s Manosphere documentary has launched the concerning views and opinions of this growing online community into the limelight in the past few months. Many people are now aware of the manosphere’s misogynistic views. But we wanted to take a closer look at their beliefs around contraception and abortion. What we found was a somewhat confused and often contradictory stance. The even more troubling discovery was how these views are filtering down into the mainstream psyche of young men.
It’s also worth naming from the outset that while the manosphere frames its ideology around a gender binary, the harm doesn’t stop at cisgender women. Trans men, non-binary people, and anyone who can become pregnant are equally targeted by these beliefs — even if the manosphere itself refuses to acknowledge their existence.
Understanding manosphere subgroups
Like any movement, the manosphere is broken into subgroups that hold differing opinions, or place emphasis on particular priorities. Incels, for example, are involuntary celibates who believe women are depriving them of their right to sex. Their views are often fatalistic, with a focus on violence and hate speech. Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs), on the other hand, focus on how feminism has disadvantaged men within a society that they see as dominated by female interests. They are motivated to rectify what they feel is a core injustice to men on a societal and political scale.
All manosphere groups hold largely misogynistic views, but rally for slightly different reasons. So it makes sense that they’d hold different opinions on contraception and abortion. But even opinions expressed within the same subgroup seem contradictory. Here’s what we discovered.
Concerns around ‘child entrapment’
MRAs often take a rational and educated tone to convince their audiences that men are disadvantaged by a society that favours women. They have been known to publicly celebrate setbacks in reproductive rights, while in the same breath expressing concerns about women ‘entrapping’ men with childcare responsibilities through unplanned pregnancy. Key manosphere influencers have often talked about a man’s right to a ‘financial abortion’, whereby they could legally cut all ties with a child they had a hand in siring. While no such law currently exists, it’sbeen hotly debated since the late 90s.
Men are warned to remain vigilant against women trying to trick them into financial dependency. This assertion is distinctly at odds with two core manosphere beliefs:
- That women belong in traditional gender roles as homemaker and mother.
- That contraception promotes promiscuity amongst women — an unattractive trait that, in their worldview, diminishes a woman’s worth on the dating market.
Manosphere glossary: what terms tell us
Promiscuity and contraception are heavily linked within the manosphere. Terms used within the subculture like bop (“Been over passed;” used to label and shame a woman or girl as promiscuous) and thottie (“That ho over there;” used to label a woman as promiscuous) indicate the disdain with which sexually active women are viewed (UN Women, 2026).
Many manosphere influencers believe monogamy should be one-sided, with the male in a relationship taking on multiple partners, while the female remains faithful to only them. Within this framework, their chosen partner shouldn’t need contraception at all — it would imply she’s being promiscuous and unfaithful. Contraception is also viewed as unnecessary because the woman has been chosen as ‘worthy’ for procreation, and her supposed duty is now to be a mother. As for the man’s other sexual partners? If they become pregnant, that’s their issue — and their punishment for being promiscuous in the first place, apparently.
It would seem that despite manosphere influencers’ assertion that they’re ‘the man of the family’ — the traditional provider and breadwinner — this protection and provision only applies to the relationships they personally deem worthy.
“Your body, my choice”
Anyone who has followed the abortion debate in America knows the phrase “my body, my choice.” Unfortunately, this powerful slogan promoting bodily autonomy for people who can become pregnant has been widely bastardised by the manosphere to spread misogynistic ideology, especially in the wake of Trump’s re-election.
According to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), 24 hours after the 2024 election was called in Trump’s favour, there was a 4,600 per cent increase in posts on X that used the phrase “your body, my choice” (Women’s Agenda, 2024). Alarmingly, we can see this view trickling down into the attitudes of young men on traditional gender roles.
The Gender Equality Attitudes Study 2022 found that over half of the men surveyed aged 16 to 19 years old across 20 countries believed women should spend less time in the workforce and more time caring for their families at home.
Contraception and abortion allow people to choose if or when they have children. But many within the manosphere believe this is not a choice anyone but men should have. Access to contraception and abortion has been touted — in these circles — as the cause of declining birth rates and the breakdown of traditional gender roles. And it’s not just the toxic corners of the internet casting the blame.
We can see it in the ‘initiatives’ several governments have brought in to incentivise young people to have babies. From France’s recent letter to 29-year-olds urging them to consider their fertility options, to the reintroduction of baby bonuses, the message being sent to people who can become pregnant is: procreate for the good of mankind. The language may be softer than what you’ll find in a manosphere forum, but the implication is the same — the onus to halt declining birth rates falls largely on those who can become pregnant.
What’s all this teaching young men?
All of these views are teaching young men that people should not really be in charge of their own bodies. The return to traditional gender roles is being packaged up nicely by describing it as what’s best for humankind.
Birth rates will continue to decline, and it’s only a matter of time before contraception and abortion are rolled out as the culprits in mainstream culture as governments desperately clutch at straws to halt economic collapse. Blame will be cast on these basic human rights to cover failures to implement important measures earlier, such as:
- enhanced parental leave
- accessible childcare
- better cost of living for families
- immigration policies to promote the spread of families across the globe
- investment in training for older people to help them stay in the workforce for longer.
Let’s face it — it’s simply easier to blame people with a uterus and their want for reproductive freedom than to address each of these topics. Just tell them to have more babies. Job done. In the manosphere’s worldview, men will save the human race by ensuring contraception and abortion don’t stand in the way of women fulfilling their role as mother, homemaker, and caretaker.
What can we do to combat it?
It’s very difficult to control what the media, political parties, and growing subcultures like the manosphere say about contraception and abortion. But we as individuals can encourage the young men in our lives to be allies. This means teaching them about reproductive health — including fertility, contraception, and abortion — and not glossing over these topics in sex education.
You can find educational resources on reproductive rights specifically designed for male allies at Men 4 Choice. They have a Youth Fellowship Program for young men eager to lead conversations and activism around reproductive freedom in their communities.
In a world where manosphere ideologies appear to be leaking into the common psyche of young men, it’s reassuring to know there are organisations out there committed to teaching the next generation of men to stand alongside women and all people who can become pregnant in the fight for reproductive rights.
