Across Asia, the 'manosphere' is celebrating the return of Donald Trump | Economic Affairs

Taipei, Seoul, and Manila – Donald Trump's popularity among young men familiar with the “manosphere” on the Internet is widely cited as the reason for his re-election as president of the United States.

After making his mark in polling booths across the US, Trump's appeal among male activists and their supporters goes back a long way.

Across Asia, where countries like China and South Korea face a growing gender divide that mirrors similar trends in the West, Trump's return to the world's most powerful political office has been celebrated in male-dominated online spaces.

“Actually, I really admire Trump, because he's not afraid to face his battles head-on,” zhtttyzhttty, a prominent influencer discussing the challenges facing men on the Chinese social media site Weibo, wrote the day after Trump's victory.

Sima Nan, an ultranationalist blogger with more than 44 million followers on social media, welcomed Trump's win despite being a frequent critic of the US, describing his “trading attitude” as positive.

“To put it bluntly, Trump is a businessman. He calls himself a great trader. Trump will cut ties with Taipei and trade with Beijing,” Nan said on Weibo, referring to Beijing's position that Taiwan's sovereignty is part of its territory.

“Everything is sold through him. What matters is the price.”

In Chinese online forums where many ordinary young men congregate, praise for Trump, who won 49 percent of male voters aged 18-29 in the US election, has been a common theme before and after the November 5 vote.

“Trump is an entrepreneur, and entrepreneurs come at the best of times,” wrote one Weibo user after Trump's re-election.

“Only Trump tells you everything with certainty and clarity.”

When images of Trump raising his fist after being hit in the ear by a would-be assassin's bullet went viral in July, netizens were shocked by the Republican candidate's act of defiance.

“What an amazing picture,” said one Weibo user. “Trump is very powerful,” he continued.

Trump's popularity among Chinese youth stands in stark contrast to the president's aggressive rhetoric and policies toward their country.

Trump has for years cast China as a threat, accusing it of stealing American jobs and accusing it of exposing the world to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his election campaign and since then, he has threatened to impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports – a move that would cause significant damage to Chinese companies and the Chinese economy.

As in other parts of the world, young men in China report holding increasingly conservative views compared to their female peers.

According to an analysis of Chinese survey data published in the International Journal of Comparative Sociology last year, young Chinese women were twice as likely to express egalitarian views than their male peers.

And while young Chinese women had more egalitarian attitudes than previous generations of women, according to the analysis, young men had become less egalitarian at the same time.

Qian Huang, an assistant professor who studies digital culture at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said Trump's support from Chinese internet is not surprising despite his hawkish stance towards Beijing.

“It is exactly the same as in 2016 when he was first elected, but it has become more intense and more people have joined the talks,” Huang told Al Jazeera.

“Trump embodies certain masculinity traits that many men today love and associate with success, including men outside of China.”

Whether in the West or in Asia, the “manosphere” is not clearly defined other than being a part of the Internet dominated by men and appealing to their interests.

Conversations between male influencers and their followers range from non-male discussions about women and criticism of feminism, to complaints about male struggles and advice about fitness and dating.

In South Korea, Jang Min-seo, who runs RedPillKorea, a YouTube channel focused on dating culture and gender issues that draws inspiration from British-American activist and self-proclaimed ally Andrew Tate, welcomed Trump's victory, seeing it as a victory for freedom. of men's speech and assertion.

“I think Trump won the election because a lot of Americans wanted a leader with a bulldozer who has character when it comes to delivering on his promises,” Jang, 35, told Al Jazeera.

Regarding South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, whose political future is still in doubt following his temporary declaration of martial law last week, Jang compared the politician to US President Joe Biden, who “doesn't really know what he's doing”.

“I have no expectations from the leaders of South Korea as they have failed miserably,” said Jang.

“Many South Korean politicians are limited to roles such as promoting the women's movement and the PC. Honest and hardworking politicians seem to have disappeared with the fall of the military regime.”

Eight out of 10 South Koreans in their 20s believe gender conflict is a serious issue, with more than half of those saying gender issues affected how they voted in the 2022 presidential election, according to a survey by the Chosun Ilbo and Seoul daily. National University.

Many young South Korean men now believe that women's march toward equality, including one of Asia's most visible movements #MeToo, has come at their expense, a view Yoon embodied during his election campaign by promising to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and the Family. .

In a 2021 survey conducted by the Seoul Shinmun newspaper and the Hyundai Research Institute, about 70 percent of men said that reverse discrimination is a bigger problem than discrimination against women.

“The department is not doing its job properly as it is no longer about equality. “Men are placed below women today,” Yang Sang-jun, 34, told Al Jazeera.

“I feel like a woman can get away with anything now if she sheds tears.”

Yang, who lives with her three dogs on the island of Jeju, said she has given up on the idea of ​​dating and getting married.

“I used to love going to clubs to meet women, but I don't trust them anymore,” said Yang. “The country's laws are so one-sided that men can easily become criminals.

In the Philippines, a popular YouTuber known as Bisdak Pilipinas said he welcomes Trump's return as he resembles former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who attracted criticism and praise for his hypermasculine and abrasive speech.

“What I see is Trump's strong personality, his courage, like a 'punisher,'” Pilipinas, who has more than 200,000 subscribers, told Al Jazeera.

Like China, South Korea and the Philippines face the possibility of major disruption under Trump's “America First” policies.
Seoul and Manila are both longtime US allies that rely on Washington's defense guarantees, which Trump has repeatedly argued is a bad deal for the American taxpayer.

Huang, an assistant professor at the University of Groningen, said Trump supporters in Asia tend to put those concerns aside because of Trump's reputation as a businessman.

“As a businessman, he is often seen as a guy who is not very focused on his ideas but who likes things,” he said.
“So, as long as there is a good deal that benefits his government and the US, there is this idea that he will come through.”

On the other hand, many figures in predominantly male communities have expressed support for Trump directly because they see him as an ideological ally, according to Chenchen Zhang, an assistant professor at Durham University in the UK who studies far-right activism online.

“Trump is often seen as anti-immigration, anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQ activism, and so-called 'awakening', and that aligns him with the views of some of these communities,” Zhang told Al Jazeera.

Bisdak Pilipinas, a Filipino YouTuber, expressed his opposition to transgender rights and attributed Trump's victory to the sexuality of his opponent Kamala Harris.

Chinese activist zhtttyzhttty is also targeting some women's groups in China, especially women, whom they accuse of humiliating and exploiting men.

He also said that he had been buried for many years by being hunted by women and his mind was damaged.

But online crowds tend to go the other way, too.

In October, popular Chinese comedian Yang Li lost a sponsorship deal with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com following backlash for a joke she made about male egos.

In 2022, South Korean YouTuber BJ Jammi took his own life after enduring years of abuse from online trolls who accused him of being a “man-hating feminist”.

Huang said the online gender conflict reflects the growing divide between young men and women.
Studies have shown that young women in many countries have become more independent compared to men in recent years.

“It's not that men usually start getting hot, but women go the other way,” said Huang.

Huang said that this difference has contributed to some men having the idea that modern women want too much from them, making it difficult to find a like-minded partner.

Jang Gwan-im, a 33-year-old man from Pocheon, South Korea who admires men like Trump and Elon Musk for chasing success without “caring too much about what the world says about them,” said getting married today involves a lot of pressure. .

“It has become very difficult to be the man that today's women think of. Buying a house in Seoul has become almost impossible while many men, on the other hand, don't want to be men and take on responsibilities,” Jang, who has a three-year-old girlfriend, told Al Jazeera.

As in many Western capitals, property prices have been rising in East Asian cities, making it even more difficult for young people to own a home, which is often considered a prerequisite for getting married and starting a family.

At the same time, wages have declined for many workers in Asian economies such as China, South Korea and Japan.
Such situations are a source of frustration for young people, said Huang.

“If you as a man view masculinity as something about having a successful career and you are deprived of that opportunity, while women are less willing to conform to traditional gender roles, that creates a problem for people. men,” he said.

Durham University's Zhang said he doesn't see the frustrations that exist in many male-dominated societies or the gender gap between young men and women diminishing anytime soon.

“For there to be change, you have to work for it, including working to change the existing conditions at the structural and economic level,” he said.