“All of these things are in service of kind of the same project, which is emboldening traditional masculinity,” one expert said.
Summary
In 2024, conservative-leaning online spaces emphasizing traditional masculinity gained mainstream influence, driven by figures like Joe Rogan and trends like the “tradwife” movement.
Platforms like X, under Elon Musk’s ownership, became hubs for anti-“woke” sentiment, while podcasting further amplified right-wing ideas.
This cultural shift mirrored Trump’s election victory and reflected backlash against progressive gender norms.
Though some view these spaces as promoting traditional values, critics warn of growing misogyny and radicalization in the “manosphere.”
The rise of such spaces highlights deepening political polarization online.
Being unaware of popular culture isn't a badge of honor. There's nothing wrong with not knowing what Hawk Tuah is but don't pat yourself on the back for it lol
Being unaware of popular culture isn't a badge of honor.
It can be, but Hawk Tuah isn't popular culture. They are part of a political culture and they shouldn't be proud of being ignorant about.
Not knowing about Skibidi is fine, as it's a senseless new fad that doesn't set out to change public policy and/or views. Not knowing about Hawk Tuah isn't on the same level as being ignorant of it can be a very bad thing due to its attempts at subverting public policy and views.
But it does mean I’m doing something right, as not knowing about things like this is exactly what I aim for. Not knowing what “Hawk Tuah” is means I’ve successfully excluded the kinds of things from my media diet that I intended to avoid. I’m not making any universal moral judgments here - these are my values. You’re free to value different things, but don’t waste your time telling me I’m valuing the wrong ones.
I place value at curating my online media diet in a way that certain topics I'm not interested in are exluded from it. I don't value what ever is trending on twitter at this very moment so I don't pay any attention to it. I don't just simply feed on what ever the social media algorithms are serving me but instead I try and be intentional about it. I can't know what I don't know. It's only when something like "Hawk Tuah" shows up on my Lemmy feed that I get concrete evidence that I, in-fact, have succesfully managed to avoid it.
And I'm sorry to inform you but I still have no clue what it is nor do I care.
How do you know it's something you'd want to avoid if you have no idea what it is? If you know it's something to avoid, then wouldn't you have to know what it is?
So, for instance, I have to watch scat porn to avoid it? I don’t have permission from you to say I want to avoid watching people eating shit until I’ve personally watched people eating shit regardless of my preference?
What does having my permission have to do with anything? I'm assuming many people who haven't watched scat porn knows what it is. The person I replied to claims to have no idea what hawk tuah is. You should try to do better understanding the context of the previous discussion before you feel the need to say anyone else sounds stupid
It's not this specific thing I try to avoid. It's this category of things. The vast vajority of it I'm not interested in so if I lose few gems with it then that's a price I'm willing to know. By definition it cannot bother me when I don't even know what I'm missing.
I feel they respect the fact you keep these things out of your life, but as an outside voice, your original comment read similar to the classic “I don’t have a tv in my house.” I’m glad you clarified!
Exactly. There's a limited amount of things I can pay attention over the week. The fact that I don't know about some completely trivial cultural thing means I've paid attention to something else instead. That something else may very well be equally trivial but it also might not.