MARY CARR: The CAVEMAN is BACK – Thanks to SOCIAL MEDIA… Why it’s young men who are the real victims of toxic MANOSPHERE exploitation that strives to reduce women to either saint or slut

Andrew Tate, the high priest of the manosphere, may not have participated in Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary – but he was there in spirit.

The King of Toxic Masculinity was present as his odious protégés displayed how well they have taken to the lucrative online misogyny business and turning a buck from humiliating and abusing women.

He hovered over the bronzed–up, hyper–ripped, dead–eyed denizens of the manosphere as they were put through their paces by Theroux. 

He sat beside Harrison Sullivan, the online star who specialises in calling women dumb blondes or tarts. 

And held the hand of influencer Myron Gaines as he was surrounded by women who, in the bad old days of male chauvinist piggery – an era that seems perilously close to a revival – would have been generically called ‘bikini–clad lovelies’.

Louis Theroux and Harrison Sullivan in a scene from Inside the Manosphere

Gaines demands one–sided monogamy from his girlfriend, Angie, meaning that he can do as he likes and she must be faithful. 

If there is a silver lining in this master/slave narrative, it’s that Angie has given him the boot.

The return to Stone Age beliefs about men being men and women being taken is a frightening prospect for parents. Why raise a daughter, educate her and encourage her potential, for a world where she will be reduced to either a slut or a saint?

But young men also have much to lose in the manosphere. In its macho and mercenary universe, female subjugation is in a sense a by–product. 

Impressionable young men are the real meat, ruthlessly exploited as nice little earners by influencers pretending to be role models.

Lured by dodgy investment schemes, rage bait and ‘red pill’ content – aka anti–women ideologies telling them that all the problems of the world are the fault of women or wokeism – they pony up for subscriptions to feel better about themselves.

Pre–social media, youngsters could grow up in private. They kicked against religion or gender stereotypes, developed their ideas and emerged as young adults in their own good time. 

Andrew Tate may not have appeared in the documentary, but his pathetic toxicity was there in spirit

In the social media age, youngsters must create their online brand before they know who they are.

The manosphere’s appeal is that it offers a robust ready–made identity to young men who are floundering, plagued by insecurity or loneliness in a splintered world. It promises them muscle mass and money, instead of failure and rejection.

Surveys showing that Gen Z, 14– to 29–year–olds, are more conservative than older generations support the manosphere’s grip.

Almost one third of Gen Z men surveyed by King’s College London believe women should obey their husbands and that husbands should have the final say over important decisions.

There is also evidence of Gen Z being more open to religion than millennials. Billed as a religious revival, the reality may be that it’s more about YouTube channels and influencers leveraging the Old Testament to give homophobia and misogyny the stamp of authority.

For all its modernity, social media has been pivotal in turning back the clock on young people’s attitudes. Views well past their sell–by date are suddenly in vogue, even though they have less legitimacy than ever. And there is no sign that things won’t get worse before they get better.

It’s not that long ago that the world in which women were ground down and young men conditioned to behave like caveman seemed to have disappeared into the rear window of history.

Now it’s back on our doorsteps, hammering to be let in.

Give Meghan Markle a break

So what if Meghan Markle appeared at a girlie retreat – at least she isn’t pally with a paedophile

Sarah Ferguson even brought her own daughters into the circle of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein 

Meghan Markle  is being compared to Sarah Ferguson for appearing at a girlie retreat in Australia where the tickets cost thousands of dollars. 

How unfair. 

Both women may be hungry to make a fortune from their royal connections, but only one socialised with a known paedophile and then brought her daughters into his circle.

Tribunals unfair? They are when you’re paying for them, Denis 

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Denis O’Brien has welcomed the DPP’s decision not to press charges arising from the findings of the Moriarty tribunal, saying that the tribunals have proven to be ‘desperately unfair’. 

Presumably the business tycoon is referring to any damage to his reputation, rather than to the long–suffering taxpayer. 

After funding the exhaustive and labyrinthine exercise over years and enriching a coterie of legal eagles – all the while being conned into believing that the deliberations would deliver a tangible result and clean public life of the stain of corruption – the taxpayer deserves more sympathy than Mr O’Brien does.

It’s back to the drawing board on our energy needs

After spurning Vladimir Putin’s cynical offer of oil to avoid spiralling prices in Europe, Ursula von der Leyen said our future is in clean energy and renewables, where prices are not sensitive to shifting world events.

You wouldn’t know that was the policy here. Despite the spin from Minister Darragh O’Brien, Government ministers were told this week that we will fall short of our targets up to 2030.

Meanwhile, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland says reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are ‘at a rate short of what is needed’.

Our dependence on fossil fuels is overwhelming. Diesel and petrol made up 93 per cent of the fuels for transport last year, while oil and gas provided 90 per cent of the heat needed to keep homes warm and factories operating.

No wonder the Tánaiste is on high alert about energy prices. We are paying for under–investment in energy infrastructure and storage, and the failure to change the planning process to smother opposition to wind farms.

And that’s before we get to the hopelessly optimistic prediction in the Climate Action Plan about a half–billion euro in grants leading to the deep retrofitting of 500,000 homes, on top of the installation of 400,000 heat pumps, measures billed to make a dent in emissions.

The Economic and Social Research Institute reckons that just 58,000 homes were retrofitted at the end of 2024 and less than four per cent of the heat pump target was met.

The State grants are geared to wealthy homeowners who can pay up front, pricing many out. The disruption caused is another deterrent, even for low–income households who qualify for full funding but still aren’t interested.

Facing failure on both the domestic and infrastructure fronts, the Government should go back to the drawing board. And aim to have something sorted before the next global crisis.