Theo James slams toxic manosphere: ‘It’s scary to have a son’

The White Lotus star Theo James has waded into the dreaded world of the manosphere, and how he fears raising a son in the current climate.

The 41-year-old, who has a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son, spoke on Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show about the problem young boys and men are facing right now.

The so-called manosphere is an area on the internet that promotes extreme views on masculinity, as well as misogynistic attitudes. Louis Theroux recently looked at it in his documentary, speaking to the likes of Harrison Sullivan, better known as HSTIKKYTOKKY.

James slammed the ideology, saying: “It’s a lot about deep seated insecurity, ultimately. Men who feel they need to be performative or misogynistic, it’s about them not feeling good enough essentially, but it’s hidden with meaningless bravado.

“And then on top of that is what we’ve reached at the moment, this cataclysmic capitalism where you have everyone now rewarded by wealth. Capitalism is the dominant force and you are celebrated, no matter what you are, if you’re stinking rich and driving around in flash cars.”

He went on to say: “That has been epitomised with Trumpism and everything that goes with that… It’s terrifying having a son because people get lured into this idea very easily.”

The Brit actor continued: “You don’t have to be, as people like to say ‘hyperwoke’, but it’s about a base level of empathy and some semblance of morality and I think now that isn’t cool, is it?

“It’s not cool to talk about those things, it’s cool to be like, ‘F*** you! I earn loads of cash, bring it on mother f*****.’

“But at the end of the day there is a deep emptiness within that, as we all know, and eventually all those people will find that out, if they haven’t already. The bottom of the bell curve is waiting for all those people, because that happens to everyone, but particularly people that throw themselves into empty commercialism and toxicity in that way.”

Body image and masculinity

Theo James also discussed the link between body image issues and toxic masculinity, noting women “have dealt with it for thousands of years and continue to do so”.

He went on: “With men there’s this toxic masculinity thing about forming identity through your body and you have to be bigger and more muscular. 

“There’s obviously this epidemic with steroids and performance enhancing things, with younger and younger kids. And it’s not just movies and TV, but it is part of that… A lot of toxic masculinity comes down to unclear identity, they feel untethered, reduced.

“I think the misogyny comes from lots of successful strong women around them, they don’t know how to deal with that. They’re confused by who they are or who they should be, so the easiest thing to do is to latch onto something and money, going to the gym a lot and telling people to go f**** themselves – that’s easy.

“That’s an easy win, but the ramifications of what it does to a generation of men is the trickier part.”

Listen and watch Josh Smith’s Great Chat Show on Spotify.

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