Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6120-0589
Defense Date
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Dr. Gina Marie Longo
Second Advisor
Dr. Frankie Mastrangelo
Third Advisor
Dr. B. Ethan Coston
Abstract
My study aims to uncover the discursive elements behind the gendered recruitment strategies that influencers in the manosphere use to pipeline men and boys into their multi-level marketing (MLM) companies. In the manosphere, male supremacy is presented as desirable and subversive, and MLMs take advantage of emotional and economic instability. My study examines the Twitter (X) account of the popular manosphere influencer Andrew Tate as I trace his rhetoric along a three-pronged gendered recruitment framework, a framework originally developed around women selling essential oils online and funneling their followers into radical alt-right politics. What are the similarities and differences in MLM recruitment strategies for men versus women? And how does Tate’s rhetoric and methods recruit followers, get them “hooked” on his content, and subsequently downline them into his own MLMs and the manosphere more broadly? My findings suggest that the downlining functions differently inside the manosphere, with Tate positioning himself as the ultimate source of knowledge and power. I call this gendered strategy of recruitment and radicalization “manlining.” This study addresses the rise in misogynistic behaviors among men both online and off and will hopefully begin to fill a gap in literature on masculine-coded MLMs.
Rights
© Carey J. Priebe
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
12-4-2025
Included in
Gender and Sexuality Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons