toxify

'What parents need to know to talk to their children about the manosphere'

The manosphere is a network of communities that create, consume and distribute content online aimed at men and boys.

They trivialise hateful rhetoric through memes, comedy and trolling (provocation or bullying for amusement) by framing it as self-help, entertainment and tools for financial success.

Manosphere content is promoted by various influencers on popular social media platforms.

https://theconversation.com/what-parents-need-to-know-to-talk-to-their-children-about-the-manosphere-252984

#socialmedia #toxic #toxicmasculinity #sociology #culture #prevention #feminism

Toxify Game Design Challenge Game Idea

In 'Empty Grifters', players take on a deceptive influencer selling online courses that prey on the insecurities of young people.

You are a student hoping to become an investigative journalist someday. Can you expose how these fraudsters have trapped young people in cycles of self-doubt?

🔎 Will you expose them in time?

Submit your game pitch today at https://toxify.org

#toxic #gamedev #indiedev #socialmedia #masculinity #influencers #media #communication #psychology @gamingagainstv@games.ngo

Toxify Game Design Challenge
Game Idea

In 'Unburdened Kittens', the player is a friendly hamster who is determined to assist a small group of brave kittens who refuse to wear harnesses and be ridden by hamsters.

Submit your game pitch today.

https://toxify.org

#indiegame #gamedev #gamedesign #education #sociology #nonprofit @stopTDV@games.ngo @gamingagainstv@games.ngo

Most attendees at this week's GDC want healthier communities for kids. Please share this opportunity with the game designers in your circle.

🧡 A game jam to challenge the #toxic beliefs & attitudes harming our teens.

▪️ $10K in prize money.
▪️ Winners own their games.
▪️ Register by March 23.

🌐 https://toxify.org

#GDC #gamedev #indiedev #gamedesign #publichealth #education #gamejam #media #journalism

"Boys will be boys"

With that attitude, you're right.

#toxic #masculinity #education #parenting #gender

Healthy, respectful manhood means valuing and respecting women, girls, and LGBQ, Trans, and nonbinary people — and respecting and valuing oneself by striving to live authentically.

https://www.acalltomen.org/healthy-manhood/

'New research: 40% of teenage boys believe women lie about domestic and sexual violence'

A recent national survey of Australian adults and adolescents examined general misogynistic attitudes and support for violent extremism.

Some respondents justified violence in the private sphere. If a woman disobeys in the home, a man should be able to control her with violence.

Others supported abstract restrictions in the public sphere, such as limiting women’s reproductive rights. Some agreed with the sentiment that “sometimes a woman just pushes a man too far”, forcing him to commit acts of violence.

https://theconversation.com/40-of-teenage-boys-believe-women-lie-about-domestic-and-sexual-violence-new-research-276978

#toxic #Australia #IPV #research #sociology #violence #prevention #publichealth #misogyny @publichealth@a.gup.pe

@emmalbriant@mastodon.online @gamingagainstv@games.ngo

This slide into toxicity is dangerous for young people and society.

That is why it is this year's theme for our nonprofit's 19th annual game design challenge.

🧡 Register by March 23rd at https://toxify.org

We reach young people where they are at through trauma-informed evidence-based digital games.

Kari Lake celebrates #toxicmasculinity:

"Let me hear from the ladies out there.

We're tired of the beta men. We want some alpha men.

We got a number one alpha man in Donald J. Trump."

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13121399/kari-lake-donald-trump-alpha-men-cpac.html

#toxic #karilake #politics #trump

Rob Mulhern was in his mid-20s when one of his closest friends died. In the fog of grief, he turned to YouTube for distraction and help.

"I started getting these self-help videos from Jordan Peterson."

What began as a self-help journey became a worldview shaped by frustration and division.

https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2025/0521/1513895-the-manosphere-why-some-young-men-turn-to-negative-influencers/

#toxic #masculinity #manosphere #socialmedia #youtube #sociology #feminism #psychology #culture #media

A few weeks of X’s algorithm can make you more right-wing – and it doesn’t wear off quickly

X’s algorithms are an editorial force, shaping what people know, whom they pay attention to, who the outgroup is and what “we” should do about or to them, and what people come to believe.

https://theconversation.com/a-few-weeks-of-xs-algorithm-can-make-you-more-right-wing-and-it-doesnt-wear-off-quickly-276153

#media #toxic #twitter #socialmedia

🎮 Toxify Game Design Challenge
Game Idea

In 'No Feelings Allowed', players control a character where everybody is taught you cannot succeed if you display any emotions.

The protagonist learns that the only way to proceed in the game - or in life - is to instead embrace emotions.

Submit your game pitch today.

📆 Deadline: March 23

🌐 https://toxify.org

#indiegame #gamedev #gamedesign #education #sociology #nonprofit @stopTDV@games.ngo @gamingagainstv@games.ngo @communicationscholars@a.gup.pe

White House tries to engage & distract young people about war through "war promos" -- a mashup of video game clips, pop culture, and real-world violence.

“Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment, as if it’s just another piece of content to be swiped through while we’re waiting in line at the grocery store.”
- Cardinal Blase J. Cupich,

https://www.kob.com/ap-top-news/white-house-war-promo-videos-marry-action-movies-sports-and-video-games-to-real-life-combat-footage/

#toxic #misinformation #politics #culture #media #entertainment #Iran #socialmedia @communicationscholars@a.gup.pe @sociology@a.gup.pe @edutooters@a.gup.pe

‘I want someone submissive’

Married at First Sight is one of Australia’s most popular reality television shows.

Billed as a “social experiment”, the premise is simple: two strangers “marry” each other when they meet for the first time at the altar.

This season, one of the featured couples is Tyson Gordon and Stephanie Marshall. While both are avowedly “anti-woke”, Tyson in particular has received backlash from both the audience and his trial wife for his rigid expectations.

https://theconversation.com/i-want-someone-submissive-married-at-first-sight-gives-the-manosphere-a-prime-time-slot-276974

#toxicmasculinity #tv #sociology #manosphere #feminism @theconversationau@mastodon.social

Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection

As boys become men, they become distrustful, lose friendships, and feel isolated and alone.

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674072428

#masculinity #loneliness #connectedness #teen #manliness #sociology #friendship

How social media's toxic content affects teens

https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/how-social-medias-toxic-content-sends-teens-into-a-dangerous-spiral/

#toxic #socialmedia #education #meta

"A woman with short hair isn't a woman!"

The words hung in the air and left Marie stunned. It was Arnaud, her 13-year-old son, who had just blurted them out in the middle of dinner.

The rise of masculinist rhetoric among young people is creating new tensions within families.

Mothers and sisters are often targeted by boys who have been radicalized online. Fathers are left feeling helpless.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2026/02/27/he-changed-in-a-very-insidious-way-parents-distress-at-sons-embracing-toxic-masculinity_6750936_7.html

[archive link]
https://archive.ph/20260227185848/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2026/02/27/he-changed-in-a-very-insidious-way-parents-distress-at-sons-embracing-toxic-masculinity_6750936_7.html

#toxic #toxicmasculinity #teen

🥳 Launched!

🎮 The 2026 LifeLove Game Design Challenge

toxify: a video game design challenge about toxic masculinity, toxic relationships, toxic behavior, and the impact these have on us.

👥 Human-created games only!

📆 Register by March 23rd to participate.

Info, rules, and more at the contest website:

🌐 https://toxify.org

🧡 Boost to help us find games that will rid our culture of toxic attitudes & folks!

#toxic #indiedev #indiegame #gamedev #gamejam #nonprofit #education #publichealth #socialmedia
#sociology #psychology
#fascism #prevention #noAI
@publichealth@a.gup.pe @edutooters@a.gup.pe @stopTDV@games.ngo @gamingagainstv@games.ngo

A page from the 1964 Wendy Ward Charm School guide.

"Your job is to make a boy very much aware that he is a man - not to make him too much aware that you are a girl.

"A six year old boy carries your books - why? To show he is a man. He climbs on fences and up trees shouting 'Look at me - look at me,' to prove that he is a man. Instinctively, they know that their job is to take care of - protect and lead."

#toxic #media #masculinity #parenting #sociology

“Only a small proportion of men displayed traditional forms of toxic masculinity,” the researchers concluded, adding that “men can be ‘manly’ without being toxic”.

“Taken together, our results illustrate the diversity of masculine identities and indicate that interventions to address destructive male attitudes need to be tailored to counteract distinct forms of toxicity.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/toxic-masculinity-trait-men-psychology-b2903604.html

#toxicmasculinity #research #sociology #psychology #culture @psychology@a.gup.pe

21 Of The Most Embarassingly Atrocious Displays Of Toxic Masculinity People Have Ever Seen

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/worst-toxic-masculinity-examples

#toxic #masculinity #cringe

College football player #ArchManning apologizes to ESPN reporter Holly Rowe.

For those who were unaware, college & pro 🏈 has a long history of recruiting and retaining football players who abuse women -- sometimes with no consequences for the players.

Arch was seen publicly joking about an #AISlop video which portrayed coach Steve Sarkisian assaulting ESPN reporter Holly Rowe in the moments after TX beat Ohio State.

Arch is the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning.

https://apnews.com/article/texas-arch-manning-holly-rowe-apology-1bf9de0fa2820fcb34c6999f3289fa43

#TitleIX #CollegeFootball #abuse #toxicMasculinity #DomesticViolencePairsWellWithFootball

Boys and young men who are isolated or struggling to find their place in society are being presented with extreme content online that glorifies dominating and dehumanizing women and amplifies gender-based violence.

Solutions include:

➕ support mental health
➕ stop non-consensual AI
➕ promote digital literacy

https://www.thestar.com/politics/mps-urge-action-to-undercut-manosphere-by-tackling-anti-women-ideology/article_b3d8a1d2-6526-5d4d-9914-7b9aac69de9b.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=copy-link&utm_campaign=user-share

#GBV #DigitalLiteracy #MediaLiteracy #AI #Grok #MentalHealth #toxic #PublicHealth #manosphere

@ZhiZhu@newsie.social @volts.wtf

"Tate had risen to prominence in the online realm of incels, pickup artists, and red-pill believers known as the manosphere"

🗺️ For the past few days, this year's Finalists have been submitting their #games from around the world.

🎮Today is the last day to submit their games and we can't wait to send them to the judging panel. Winners will share a $10,000 prize pool.

📣 Thank you to everybody for your support and participation -- we are eager to share what you have created!🥳

🌐 https://toxify.org

#VideoGames #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieDev #toxify #nonprofit #PublicHealth #culture #noAI #zuzai #sociology #psychology #education #toxic @stopTDV@games.ngo @gamingagainstv@games.ngo @stopTDV@mastodon.social

📣 Announcing the judging panel for the 2026 Toxify Game Design Challenge!

🧐 This panel of experts in game design and/or trauma-informed practices will score & critique the games submitted by this year's Finalists. Winning games will share a $10,000 USD prize pool.

📆 The Finalists will submit their completed #toxify games by July 28th.

🌐 https://toxify.org/judges/index.html#judges

#gamedesign #gamedev #contest #indiegame #TraumaInformed #nonprofit #games #toxic #GameStudies #prevention #GameJournalism #VideoGames #education #manosphere #ToxicRelationships #noAI

Louis Theroux’s recent documentary Inside the Manosphere, and Netflix’s 2025 hit drama Adolescence, has driven a spike in public discussion about the “manosphere”.

❓ A new study asks: how do some men manage to leave?

🌐 https://theconversation.com/men-can-get-out-of-the-manosphere-heres-what-former-incels-say-about-why-they-left-278312

#toxicmasculinity #LouisTheroux #Adolescence #manosphere #sociology #prevention #publichealth #toxic #feminism #GBV #misogyny #teens #education

Q:
What about social media platforms causes more #toxicity than in face-to-face communication?

A:
DAD

Disembodiment
Accountability
Disinhibition

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-highlights-roots-online-toxicity.html

#SocialMedia #MediaLiteracy #DigitalLiteracy #communication #media

🥳 Finalist teams announced!

The advancing teams are from:

Argentina, Canada, France, Mexico, Serbia, and US

🎮 We are excited to see the games you create!

#gamedev #indiedev #gamejam #publichealth #nonprofit @gamingagainstv@games.ngo @stopTDV@games.ngo

In 'Adolescence' the central character has been "indoctrinated by voices" like Andrew Tate's and "voices a lot more dangerous than Andrew Tate's."

"This show has the bravery to just peel back the layers and go, let's talk about this thing, because we're still dealing with it today. There are still issues cropping up in the news today."

"It just allows parents, aunties, uncles, even just friends, to engage in the conversation."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwydwzv4qpgo

#toxicmasculinity #manosphere #misogyny #socialmedia #media #prevention #publichealth