St Patrick's Day 'Epstein files' float shows manosphere isn't only on TikTok
The Epstein files float in Ballinrobe's St Patrick's Day parade. Picture from Tiktok
This week has seen a flurry of outrage following the presence of an ‘Epstein Files’ float in St Patrick’s Day Parades in Mayo and Galway respectively.
When I initially saw the floats on TV, I thought it was quite clever to use such a platform to question the clear cover-up of what is undoubtedly the grossest abuse of girls and women.
Unfortunately, my admiration was short-lived, as the camera panned to the side of the float, exposing the most grotesque set, which, at best, made light of the sexual abuse of girls and women, and at worst positioned rape as something to joke about.
It left me with so many questions; who was responsible for such a disgusting display? How was it allowed in a parade frequented by children? In the aftermath, why were some people coming to the defence of those who created the float?
A few days previously I watched Louis Theroux’s new documentary. To those who haven’t had to endure it yet, in Louis’s unique style of interviewing, he talks to the now omnipresent ‘manosphere influencers’, most notably Myron Gaines, Ed Matthews, and Harrison Sullivan.
If you are lucky enough to not know who these individuals are, think of the type of man who idolises Andrew Tate and who identifies loud, obnoxious, misogynistic behaviour as an indicator of strength and masculinity. The type of man who, no doubt, would have sniggered at the Epstein Files float.
It is not often I struggle to finish a Louis Theroux documentary, but the relentless, self-centred, tedious waffle from deeply insecure men made this one a difficult watch. In their world the barometer of success appears to be how flashy a Lamborghini they rent, and how many teenage boys fawn over their latest ‘content’.
What becomes abundantly clear is how emotionally stunted these men are, and how stuck they seem to be in their childhoods. That is not to excuse their behaviour, rather to offer insight into how much of a façade their ‘strong-man’ personas are.
While those of us with the benefit of maturity can see right through their act, unfortunately their many young male followers haven’t had the life experience to help them understand the true nature of their heroes, and the fraudulent weak fabric of their personas. Consequently, the young men are identifying with what they see as a bona fide cause as an alternative to feeling lost, where they see perceived strength and something they can be part of just by virtue of a shared gender.
The impact is profound. Misogyny is normalised, and the abuse of girls and women is apparently something to joke about, as we saw up west on St Patrick’s Day.
While a disgusting level of misogyny is the foundation upon which the manosphere is built, the next level appears to be an adoption of neoliberalism that, to paraphrase Harrison Sullivan, gives carte blanche for them to act in whatever way they want as long as it serves their interest. Their interest being monetary or fan-boy gain, ideally both.
In doing so they play on young men’s fundamental desire and need for hierarchy, as well as strong role models in an increasingly individualised world. It’s all a bit of craic, they would undoubtedly say, from Mayo to Miami.
We can cod ourselves in thinking this is an isolated problem. Yes, the manosphere itself is a specifically malignant problem which needs addressing, primarily and urgently by us men. Yet the lack of strong public counter-narratives to destructive ideologies is all too familiar currently, and has far worse outcomes than the grooming of young male minds.
Donald Trump, an insecure, damaged old man (who ironically features heavily in the Epstein files) just like his manosphere contemporaries sees loud, obnoxious, misogynistic behaviour as a sign of strength. Unfortunately for us, his influence goes beyond TikTok. His position, coupled with his persona, has seen him lay siege to the world, causing untold destruction.
Just like our response to the manosphere until now has been to ridicule it from the comfort of our living rooms, our political establishment has adopted a similar approach when it comes to the US regime.
An ongoing genocide, the disregard of international law and human rights, threats to invade an ally, the covering up of the Epstein files and the globalised sexual abuse of girls and women, and the destruction of the Middle East does not warrant anything other than private dialogue and soft diplomacy with the Trump regime, apparently. This week, our bowl of shamrock and some perverse version of diplomacy wrapped up as Ireland doing our bit were the response by the Irish Government on St Patrick’s Day.
In recent weeks we heard ad nauseam about our responsibility to the Irish diaspora in America, the unique relationship between our two countries, and how our voice being a very small one on the global stage is a justification for bending the knee to Donald Trump.
It’s a similar pose to what's adopted by those who see the challenging of the manosphere as something beyond them. Somebody else can handle it.
This misses the point entirely and clearly has not worked.
When we allow destructive male voices from Harrison Sullivan all the way to Donald Trump to go unchecked and unchallenged publicly, we are complicit in the destruction they unfold and the misogyny that now seems part and parcel of daily life.
Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke out against Donald Trump for the second time in a week. He identified how Spain did not wield as much power as the US, yet he would not concede to their bullying and demands.
Being a solitary voice in a group of men, from your local St Patrick’s Day Parade all the way to the Oval Office is not a reason to speak softly, or worse, not at all. The followers of the manosphere and the likes of Trump have one enormous commonality; they fawn over their hero’s perceived strength.
It is incumbent upon us all to respond in kind.
Show an alternative strength, a moral strength, a courageous strength, come whatever.
Not only will it offer an alternative to the groomed young men, and our future history books, maybe, just maybe, our individual strength combined can arrest the destructiveness insecure men are having on us all, but most crucially on women and girls.
- Diarmaid Twomey is a social worker and undergraduate tutor at the school of applied social studies in UCC, with interests in the area of children and young people. The views expressed in this article are his and not those of his employer.
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