Role of male rage & misogyny in media

Muskan Shaah

(@muskan shah) 

Dr Moitrayee Das

As a paper published in the Journal of Psychology of Men & Masculinity puts it, male rage is the result of a man’s sense of control and perception of right and wrong being affronted (Thomas, 2003). This rage builds silently under the surface, bubbling and boiling until it finally erupts. When it erupts, the world is left silent at the impact that the actions have. The Netflix series Adolescence shows exactly this. The miniseries spears into this territory of male rage and guts it to reveal truths about the simmering power and violence silently triggering masculinity.

Breaking Down Male Rage

The term male rage refers to intense feelings of anger, frustration and aggression. The root of these consuming emotions lies in the perceived feeling of having less, or not having any, power over situations and individuals, as well as from the perceived right and wrong being negated by others. The idea of masculinity and identity has been distorted; the extent of the distortion is directly connected to the socially conditioned response to emotional expression, i.e., being praised for holding everything in and not showing emotions while growing up. Suppressing decades worth of emotions and never learning true emotional literacy leads to a sense of disconnection, which in turn adds fire to the rage building up.

The way in which this rage presents itself solidifies the patriarchal characteristic norms of dominance – which can be turned inward in the form of withdrawal or self-harm or turned towards others in the form of bullying and misogyny. When this rage is directed outwards, especially towards women, society often tells us that it is just ‘men being men’ and it’s unfortunate but should be expected. By doing so, traditional gender role constructs and masculinity ideologies are reinforced even more, pushing emotional competence down further. Men with strong traditional masculinity ideologies have also been found to display high levels of aggression, impaired emotional competence, and more frequent perpetration of domestic violence (Logoz et al., 2023). The reason for male rage cannot be attributed to only one factor or one aspect of society; rather, it is a culmination of factors beginning from early emotional suppression, where boys are rewarded for suppressing emotions when socialised early in life, leading to a deficit in emotional literacy. Further, factors such as sexual trauma, issues with early caregivers (such as absent or neglectful parents), loneliness, and socioeconomic factors also play a significant role (DeSantis et al., 2024).

According to qualitative and quantitative evidence, male rage is on the rise. News outlets routinely present news of increased levels of anger and aggression and reports that have been created since to serve to back this up (Anthony, 2024). The reason for this rise has been attributed to factors such as identity crises in a world that continues to challenge traditional masculine identities and economic and social disempowerment. However, one of the main driving factors is reported to be an algorithmic amplification of rage.

Media and Misogyny

The rise of social media platforms has played a pivotal role in the resurgence of male rage. The platforms Instagram, X (more famously known as Twitter), YouTube and TikTok, which have billions of users combined, have allowed individuals to gain power to propagate traditional masculine ideologies. These individuals present misogynistic ideologies under terms such as ‘male empowerment’ and manipulatively present gender equality as a threat to males. This leads to young, impressionable men being resentful towards women; a survey revealed that Gen-Z boys exposed to this kind of content were reported to view feminism as more harmful than baby boomers (Booth, 2024).

The algorithms of these platforms have been shown to reward content that fuels outrage and promotes polarity between the two sexes, leading to ‘influencers’ creating more and more provocative content just to improve their reach and following. The provocative messages often follow the theme of masculinity being equated to strength and positioning empathy as synonymous with weakness. In doing so, this misogynistic narrative reaches the screens of millions of young men, advocating for them to express their frustration in the form of aggression. A constant feedback loop triggered by exposure to this kind of digital environment runs on expressions of rage and validation for the same aggressive behaviour – actively planting the seed for and maintaining this toxicity.

A Digital Case Study

One such individual who went viral on social media platforms is Andrew Tate. Tate, a former kickboxer, became infamous for his social media content and developed a cult-like following online. The content that is put out consists of anti-feminist and derogatory language along with hyper-masculine advice, presenting masculinity as control and dominance. He claims women are obstacles in the way of men and tells his followers to objectify them, stripping all females of their identities to be reduced to mere commodities (Das, 2022). He sells this toxic and shallow ideology as an actual lifestyle, rebranding old patriarchal scripts as something new and encouraging an impressionable audience to take up this content and implement it in their lives.

The reason that Tate’s content did well indicates a psychological void. Traditional roles are now being challenged with women taking their rightful place in society, gaining power, voice and visibility. As a result, men, especially those with fragile egos and suppressed insecurities, feel threatened and diminished. Reactively, they create and support movements such as the one started by Tate and use misogyny as a coping mechanism.

 From Screens to Schools

The resurgence of male rage is not only witnessed in adults as increased reports of aggression surface, but even in school-going children. Circling back to the miniseries Adolescence, the show has set off a deep dive into how much the algorithm-driven misogyny is actually impacting individuals worldwide. There is a rampant rise in sexism in classrooms, as reported by 5,800 teachers across the United Kingdom associated with the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (Moore, 2025). Male students refuse to talk to female teachers, use derogatory language towards female peers and staff, and behave significantly differently with individuals of the opposite sex as well as other males whom they deem to not be ‘masculine enough’. Further, there was a rise in physical and verbal violence, with reported incidents including hitting, punching, barking at, shoving, and spitting on teachers; the behaviour was more so displayed by those between the ages of 12 and 14 as per previous reports (NASUWT, 2023). This was also seen in Australian schools, as evidenced by the findings of a 2024 study by Monash University which reported patterns of sexual harassment, misogyny and sexism in classrooms linked to the influence of online ‘influencers’ like Tate (The Indian Sun, 2024).

The time has come for us, as members of the society, to come together to tackle this issue before it grows even further. Emotional literacy in boys has to be normalised to help them understand and deal with emotions from a young age; masculinity must be redefined to inculcate empathy and equity in its definition; male mental health must be made accessible to help break years of maladaptive patterns; online regulations must be imposed to ensure correct usage of platforms and there needs to be space created for men to be able to be safely vulnerable. It is up to us to break the pattern and redefine what being a man essentially is.

 References

Anthony, A. (2024, May 12). The rage epidemic: Is our modern world fuelling aggression? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/may/12/road-rage-epidemic-peter-abbott-abuse-fury

Booth, R. (2024, February 1). Gen Z boys and men are more likely than baby boomers to believe feminism is harmful, says a poll. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/feb/01/gen-z-boys-and-men-more-likely-than-baby-boomers-to-believe-feminism-harmful-says-poll

Das, S. (2022, August 6). Inside the violent, misogynistic world of TikTok’s new star, Andrew Tate. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/06/andrew-tate-violent-misogynistic-world-of-tiktok-new-star

DeSantis, A. J., Eshelman, L. R., & Messman, T. L. (2024). Emotional Dysregulation, Anger, and Masculinity in Men Who Have Experienced Lifetime Sexual Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8862605241301790. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241301790

Logoz, F., Eggenberger, L., Komlenac, N., Schneeberger, M., Ehlert, U., & Walther, A. (2023). How do traditional masculinity ideologies and emotional competence relate to aggression and physical domestic violence in cisgender men?. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1100114. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1100114

Moore, H. (2025, April 19). ‘Andrew Tate phenomena’ fuelling wave of misogyny in schools, teachers warn. LBC. https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/andrew-tate-phenomena-fuelling-wave-of-misogyny-in-schools-teachers-warn/

NASUWT: Behaviour in schools: Key messages, September 2023: https://tinyurl.com/bddtvrz5

The Indian Sun. (2024, April 3). Schools under siege: ‘Manfluencer’ culture fuelling toxic masculinity. https://www.theindiansun.com.au/2024/04/03/schools-under-siege-manfluencer-culture-fuelling-toxic-masculinity/

Thomas, S. (2003, January). Men’s anger: A phenomenological exploration of its meaning in a middle-class sample of American men. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 4(2), 163-175. https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1112&context=utk_ nurspubs#:~:text=In essence%2C a man’s anger,behaviours in response to others.