The red pill pipeline is 'a cult' - here’s how I escaped
1,418“I think it’s a very appealing thing to be the victim because it relinquishes any accountability or responsibility.”
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This is how James Lawrence* (not his real name), a young man in his mid-20s living in the US – who fell down the so-called “red-pill pipeline” around the age of 17 – described what it was like to be there.
A growing network of online communities known collectively as the “manosphere” is emerging as a serious threat to gender equality, as toxic digital spaces increasingly influence real-world attitudes, behaviours, and policies, the UN agency dedicated to ending gender discrimination has warned earlier this year.
The phrase ‘red pill’ comes from a scene in the 1999 film The Matrix, in which Laurence Fishburne’s character offers Keanu Reeves a choice to take the “red pill” to see “how deep the rabbit hole goes”. The rabbit hole, in this case, includes the understanding that “men are the oppressed gender rather than women”, according to charity Hope Not Hate.
Lawrence, who asked not to use his real name for privacy reasons, says he didn’t view it as a way to put women down, but more that women want someone “who is better than them per se – I cringe saying that – so you got to be more dominant yourself”.
However, he now describes the manosphere as a “cult” which “makes you feel right, but at the cost of your mental health”. He says he remembers comment sections full of increasingly angry and isolated young men.
After spending a year extracting himself from the “pipeline”, Lawrence spends time trying to dispel the lies and hatred spreading on online forums like Reddit. “If I can help others get out of this and avoid this, then I will have done my job,” he says.
Watch to find out more about his story, and what he thinks needs to change.
For our new visual investigation into what makes the manosphere so appealing to teenage boys, tap to the link ► https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2025/oct/21/why-the-manosphere-clicked-for-young-men-a-visual-deep-dive
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