Attached Paper Annual Meeting 2024

Islamizing the Red pill: Muslim masculinity and the Online Manosphere

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

In *The New Arab Man,* Marcia Inhorn, a prominent scholar of Muslim masculinities, challenges common stereotypes about contemporary Middle Eastern Muslim men. Her work is significant, for it highlights the emergence of egalitarian Muslim masculinities in the Middle East. However, this paper draws attention to a starkly different form of Muslim masculinity emerging among the young Muslim men of the West. This "Red pill Muslim masculinity" combines the teachings of popular youtubers such as Rollo Tomassi with a simplistic understanding of evolutionary psychology and neuroscience. It emphasizes that men and women are situated in a confrontational dynamic due to inherent and immutable evolutionary differences. Red-pill Muslim influencers view women as inferior, hypergamous, irrational, and solipsistic beings who must be controlled by an aggressive, judgemental, and manipulative Muslim masculinity. Crucially, prominent Muslim youtube influencers have begun to frame red pill ideology as “traditional” Muslim masculinity, thereby encouraging young religious men to embrace this trend.