Unfortunately, even now, in 2025, misogyny is not a thing of the past. Some might even suggest that it is somewhat on the rise again, bearing in mind the prevalence of the incel (involuntary celibates) subculture and similar groups dedicated to denigrating women.
A research into the prevalence of men who use internet forums characterized by misogyny in the Nordic countries found that such forums bring young men together in fraternities, which incite hatred towards women and gender equality.
“The report provides new and important knowledge about how misogyny exists in various forms online. It shows how some young men put themselves in opposition to society and congregate around values and norms that are directly at odds with gender equality and women’s rights, which are both absolutely central to our society,” Denmark’s Minister for Employment, Peter Hummelgaard, was quoted as saying.
The aforementioned source cited one member of the incel community, saying, “A society where men are not allowed to control their inferior counterpart – a woman – is an awful world.”
According to the research, young men seek out such communities led by feelings of vulnerability and loneliness. For them, the sense of unity the communities provide outweighs the possible negative effects of misogynistic attitudes and values.
Commenting on the issue for Nordic co-operation, Christian Mogensen of the Centre for Digital Youth Care, co-author of The Angry Internet, noted, “For men, it’s often difficult to be vulnerable. It’s seen as a weakness, and so many of them translate this vulnerability into an extreme hostility, which can threaten gender equality, democracy, and especially their own well-being.”
While the report presented by Nordic co-operation reportedly found no indications that any of the Nordic internet users would act physically on their misogynistic views, that is not the case everywhere. A different study noted, “In recent years, there has been a small, but growing, number of violent attacks that have been attributed to individuals who identify as incels,” and found that some of them justify violence against people that incels perceive as “causing harm to them.”
While far from every member of the subculture is reportedly in favor of justifying violence, as much as one quarter of the sample of participants (incels from the UK and the US) admitted to either justifying it “sometimes” or “often” (the latter comprising just over 5% of the participants).
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The study conducted with the co-operation of members of the incel community from the UK and the US found that when it came to their attitudes and beliefs, many showcased high levels of victimhood, anger, and misogyny. They also shared a view that feminists are a primary enemy.
But one doesn’t have to belong to a subculture as extreme as incels to feel this way. As a matter of fact, many males who do not attribute themselves to such communities share negative views towards feminism. A global study from 2022, conducted by Ipsos, found that a third of the surveyed men believed that feminism did more harm than good. A similar number felt that traditional masculinity was under threat.
While some people view feminism as a “threat to traditional masculinity,” in reality, it is more about fighting for equality than anything else. Though, for misogynists, the mere thought of women wanting equal rights can be terrifying.
Delving deeper into the matters regarding misogyny, sexual harassment, and feminism, one research paper described the latter as “a gamut of socio political movements and ideologies that share a common goal to delineate, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes.
“Feminist movements over decades have campaigned for rights of women, including the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to receive education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights within marriage, and to have maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to promote bodily autonomy and integrity and to protect women and girls from brutal crimes such as r**e, sexual harassment, and domestic violence,” the research read in part.
Bearing in mind that misogyny is “the control, punishment, and policing of people and systems which threaten male dominance,” as Dr. Catherine E McKinley, associate professor at the Tulane University School of Social Work, puts it, it’s no surprise that the idea of giving up control to women—even if only of their own bodies—is threatening to some men.
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While some men fear feminism and see equality as a threat to their manhood, a number of females admit to being biased against women in some ways, too. According to the Gender Social Norms Index released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) back in 2020, close to 90% of men and women hold some sort of bias against females.
According to the aforementioned index, close to half of men and women in the world believe that men make better political leaders. An additional 40% reportedly say that males also make better business executives, and even that men should have more right to a job when jobs are scarce. Shockingly, close to 30% of respondents globally believe that it’s justified for a man to beat his wife.
“We have come a long way in recent decades to ensure that women have the same access to life’s basic needs as men. We have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent since the year 1990. But gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality. Today. the fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices.” UNDP cited Pedro Conceição, head of its Human Development Report Office, as saying.