Matias Nurminen: Narratives mainstreamed the misogynistic manosphere and increased support for it

Photo: Jonne Renvall, Tampereen yliopisto

In his doctoral dissertation in literary studies, Matias Nurminen examined how the antifeminist male online communities known as the manosphere use storytelling to disseminate their ideology, build communities, and recruit new members. He discovered that manosphere groups transform personal experiences, references to popular culture, and shared master narratives into effective tools of influence, while portraying the men within these communities as oppressed rebels and challenging prevailing understandings of gender equality and gender roles.

Matias Nurminen’s research helps explain why the manosphere’s misogynistic ideas have entered the mainstream, particularly through social media, and demonstrates how narratives are used as instruments of ideological influence. He also shows how narrative studies can take a more active societal role in critiquing harmful narrative models and provides new tools for identifying manipulative online content, offering valuable insights for educators, parents, authorities, and policymakers seeking to strengthen critical media literacy and prevent harmful online influence.

The doctoral dissertation of Master of Arts Matias Nurminen in the field of literary studies and titled Narrative Warfare: Storytelling Strategies in the Antifeminist Manosphere, will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Tampere University on Friday 11 September 2026.

The opponent will be Associate Professor Stefan Iversen of Aarhus University, Denmark. The custos will be University Lecturer Maria Mäkelä from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tampere University.