‘Manosphere’ content deepens gender bias against women in the workplace, research finds

Joe Rogan. Jordan Peterson. Andrew Tate. They’re some of the voices of the “manosphere,” defined by UN Women as “online communities that have increasingly promoted narrow and aggressive definitions of what it means to be a man—and the false narrative that feminism and gender equality have come at the cost of men’s rights.”

While the term dates back to roughly 2009, the building blocks of its ideology were laid decades ago, according to Corinne Low, associate professor of business economics and public policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of Having it All: What Data Tells Us about Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours.

Women experienced a gender revolution in the 20th century as they entered the workforce in higher numbers and gained more financial rights. Men did not experience such a revolution, Low said, adding that some may have felt professional success became harder to attain.

“Enter the manosphere, that says…‘The problem is women, and we have a plan to get your power back, which is, we’re going to denigrate [women’s] capabilities at work, and we’re going to claim that their accomplishments at work are actually DEI and stuff that they didn’t deserve’” Low said.

A new survey from leadership and research nonprofit Lean In finds that the views typically associated with the manosphere are now influencing the workplace; 91% of men and 88% of women reported having seen manosphere (or tradwife) content, the survey found.

The impact on women’s progress. After decades of headway, progress seems to have stagnated for women in corporate America: C-suite representation among women has stalled, and there are fewer women on executive committees. Many companies stopped publicly reporting gender representation as a result of the anti-DEI movement, and the gender pay gap has seen uneven progress since 2022, with a slight narrowing in 2025.

More than half (53%) of men who view manosphere or tradwife content at least some of the time believe they’re expected to do “too much to support equality,” up nine percentage points since 2019.

Among men who frequently view manosphere content, 58% believe men are “naturally better suited for leadership” (compared to 19% of infrequent viewers), while 50% believe “women are too emotional for high-pressure roles” (vs. 14% of infrequent viewers), according to the survey.

“Women do not have enough leadership positions at work,” Sheryl Sandberg, author and founder of Lean In, told HR Brew. “What’s going on is that we have a cultural belief that women aren’t equipped or as equipped as men to lead.”

And the research shows this belief is affecting women in the workplace: 60% of US employees have heard “manosphere-coded” comments in the workplace, and women who hear such comments are six times more likely to be told they’re “too emotional.”

“What we’re seeing from the tradwife content is that it’s actually not negatively influencing women,” Bridget Griswold, CEO of Lean In said, but it does appear to influence men’s views. “It’s actually really harmful to men and their perceptions of women, and this really matters because men are in leadership.” (Of the men who reported to not like tradwife content, but were still frequent viewers, 32% claimed women are too emotional for the workplace and 37% claimed women should prioritize families over career.)

Griswold added that men still hold most leadership positions, and are often the ones deciding who gets promoted, so manosphere ideology could show up at work.

“Cultural expectations really take hold and impact women in the workplace,” Sandberg said. “These trends on the manosphere and tradwife are so dangerous because they’re reinforcing the cultural norms that have held women back for generations, and are making just a resurgence of holding women back.”

What can HR do? The data could be a wake up call to employers, Sandberg and Low told HR Brew.

“If we don’t recognize that the manosphere and the tradwife content out there is contributing to it, we are turning a blind eye to something that is culturally very pervasive, becoming more pervasive and entrenched,” Sandberg said.

To address the issue from within, employers should establish uniform metrics and criteria for promotions and raises, Griswold said. “When you have clear criteria, it reduces uncertainty and bias.”

Low recommended leaders also work with managers to identify when company policies or practices get in the way of women’s advancements, in part so they can avoid discrimination and ensure a true meritocracy.

“Give the mandate to your managers to say, ‘We’re not going to make this about whether you believe that we should be hiring more female leaders, or whether you believe we should have 50% female leaders,” Low said. “We should make this about, ‘We need to make sure that we are getting the best people for the job because that’s who’s going to innovate, that’s who’s going to keep us competitive, that’s who’s going to help us win. And so, therefore, we cannot have practices or assumptions that stand in the way of us doing that because then we’re going to lose out as a firm.”

To that end, training and connection are critical. Women can connect in professional circles outside their respective workplaces, while employers can provide bias training. But men need to be involved too, Griswold said.

“What we need to do is bring men along to understand the importance of this work because we need male allies,” Griswold said.

Women need men at work to push back against manosphere-coded comments and discrimination, but also to help everyone succeed, Griswold and Sandberg said.

“We have to recognize that fighting bias is not about giving one group an advantage over another,” Sandberg explained. “It’s about evening the playing field so everyone can contribute, and it’s in companies’ best interest. You will do better. You will perform better, and this has been shown.”