Former British and Irish Lion among several prominent athletes working with Same Side to combat the idea of 'traditional' masculinity and the ‘manosphere’

Louis Theroux documentaries often have a huge societal impact, leading to important conversations throughout the population, and that is no different with his latest, ‘Inside the Manosphere’.

The British journalist took the decision to explore the manosphere, which, for those that are not familiar, is a network of websites, forums and influencers who promote what they describe as "traditional" masculinity.

This idea seems to promote the view where men hold a dominant role in a relationship and women are subservient.

Theroux spoke to some of the most prominent figures within this space, including UK streamer Harrison Sullivan, aka HS TikkyTokky, bringing a more mainstream lens on the ‘manosphere’.

Reaction to the documentary has varied, with some believing it has shone an important light on this worrying space, while others don’t think it did enough, as it failed to add anything new to what we already knew or a distinct lack of a female perspective about the ‘manosphere’.

Former rugby player and England international Ugo Monye has given his opinion on the documentary and the ideas those within the ‘manosphere’ attempt to promote.

He said: “As a proud father of two young girls, seeing these kids influence men and young boys in a way who might in some way come into contact with my girls when they grow up into the real world, that's frightening.

“That is absolutely frightening, and for anyone that thinks it's something that is far removed from reality, it's not, and it's interwoven into today's society. It needs to be watched, it needs to be studied, and it needs to be rallied against.”

In order to combat this space, Monye has partnered wi Same Side, who have launched a campaign aiming to combat this idea of ‘traditional’ masculinity by attempting to help create a world where the definition of 'being a man' gives men and boys the freedom to express who they are by challenging the social media algorithm.

Same Side have partnered with several high-profile athletes to promote this campaign, including the former British and Irish Lion along with the likes of James Maddison and Tyrone Mings.

Monye said: “With the Same Side campaign, the manosphere and the online presence that a lot of these creators, for want of a better phrase, have is we're trying to use sport for good and the personalities in sport for good to be able to create content on the same platforms as all of these other influencers to really neutralise that tone and have a more nuanced conversation around a lot of these topics.

“It is for men and young boys to be able to lean upon and have a far more educated conversation without listening to maybe some of these key influences that you would have seen on documentaries like the manosphere."

A view that many have taken since watching Theroux’s documentary, is that all those who are involved in the ‘manosphere’ as an influencer are simply in it for financial gain.

One of those that had this view was Monye, watching this Netflix documentary, as the 2012 Premiership winner said: “These people have huge influence, huge untold influence, and they have hijacked their influence in return for cash to be able to speak about things which I'm not even sure that they believe.

“However, what I do know is if you repeat something over and over again, you can start to believe it, and the lines between what's truth and what's reality are blurred, and actually you don't care because your bank balance is doing this whilst your moral compass is going down.

“So yeah, your moral currency has gone through the floor, whilst your bank balance has gone through the roof. And that's the trade-off. So actually, ask any of them, 'Do they care?' No, because they're getting paid.”

Monye and the other athletes who have joined this Same Side campaign are proud to be involved in this attempt to combat the narrative around ‘traditional’ masculinity and have a nuanced conversation around the identity of young men in the United Kingdom.

Ugo Monye was speaking to Sportbible for the Same Side campaign. Ugo is one of many sports stars using the power of sport to reshape the conversation about what it means to be a man. Find out more: https://campaign.unwomenuk.org/same-side