A new documentary 'Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere' was released on Netflix on Wednesday.
Theroux interviews some of the leading influencers and podcasters, who profit from and spread controversial ideas.
Professor of Digital Media and Gender in the School of Communications at DCU Debbie Ging told Behind the Story the documentary exposed one thing we have not seen before.
"I think one of the real strengths of the documentary is the way that it exposes the business model underlying the whole manosphere as industry model," she said.
"He really exposes the machinations of algorithmic capitalism, if you like… the way these guys will do basically anything for clout.
"It exposes the grift and the hustle."
Prof Ging said many men are being pulled into the manosphere by apparent self-help gurus.
"It capitalises on male insecurity," she said.
"Rather than just overt misogyny or anti-feminism, these guys are masquerading as fitness coaches, wellness coaches, mental health gurus (and) dating coachers.
"They’re purporting to help men - to be on men’s side - and they’re promising boys wealth and status, and if you’ve got that you can attract women."
Prof Ging says this messaging is the most "pervasive thing that we’re seeing".
"When we ask teenage boys what it means to be a man - what is the key defining feature of masculinity - they say, you’ve got to be a breadwinner, you’ve got to earn money."
‘MAGA’ content
Prof Ging said many studies have shown that content is being circulated to users "on the basis that they’re male".
"What they’re getting, as well as all these manfluencer guys, they’re getting a huge amount of American MAGA content," she said.
"That’s being firehoused into their TikTok on the daily - and a lot of Trump content as well."
Prof Ging said lines are being blurred between technology and politics.
"What we’ve seen with Trump’s second term is a very significant rightward move of Silicon Valley," she explained.
"We’ve got a new techno feudalist bunch of people who have very clear vision about what the world should look like and about power.
"You’ve got the strongman politicians coalescing with the tech oligarchs and the manosphere.
"It is the perfect storm because they control the technology that brings us our news."
Ireland’s Oscar hopes
Evelyn O’Rourke also joins Fran from Los Angeles ahead of the Academy Awards on Sunday.
Irish hopes are high for Kerry native Jessie Buckley, who is nominated for Best Actress in ‘Hamnet’.
Evelyn gives a behind-the-scenes look at what really goes on at the biggest awards show - and even a sneak peak of what we can expect on the red carpet.
You can listen to Behind the Story on the RTÉ Radio Player.
You can also find episodes on Apple here, or on Spotify here.
