‘Femcel’ influencers urge their followers to give up on gender equality and use men for financial gain – in the name of feminism

The manosphere, the misogynist internet world populated by influencers such as Andrew Tate, is widely recognised as a toxic space where young men are at risk of radicalisation. Now, say researchers, women and girls are being sucked into potentially dangerous online spaces of their own: the femosphere.

It is a term used by Dr Jilly Kay, an expert in feminist media and cultural studies at Loughborough University, in a paper published earlier this year. Kay has been researching a reactionary turn among young women, and how a backlash against mainstream feminism has created new spaces online. In the femosphere, instead of “incels” – male involuntary celibates – there are “femcels”, and instead of pickup artists there are female dating strategists and so-called “dark feminine” influencers who encourage women to find men to support them financially.