Book review: Jessica Aiston, Male Separatism: Discourse, Ideology, and Argumentation AistonJessica, Male Separatism: Discourse, Ideology, and Argumentation, John Benjamins Publishing Company: Amsterdam, 2025; 202 pp., €120.00 (hbk), $156.00 (hbk): ISBN: 9789027219169

From #GamerGate (a misogynist harassment campaign in the gaming world) to Andrew Tate, social media has significantly spread and amplified antifeminist ideology (Holm, 2023), particularly in the 'manosphere'.The manosphere is a loose network of online masculinist communities that promote antifeminist beliefs (Van Valkenburgh, 2019).The author of the book under review argues that this network comprises four major manosphere communities: men's rights advocates, involuntary celibates (incels), pick-up artists, and 'Men Going Their Own Way' (MGTOW).Scholars have previously investigated online misogyny and instances of antifeminism within these communities (e.g., Bocheva et al., 2025;Krendel, 2020;Krendel et al., 2022;Scotto di Carlo, 2023).However, existing literature has mostly focused on incels due to their close link with violence and terrorism (e.g., Coufal and Wedel, 2025;DeCook and Kelly, 2022;Hoffman et al., 2020), while paying less attention to MGTOW, and particularly language use within this community.Drawing on the discourse-historical approach (DHA) (Reisigl and Wodak, 2001;Wodak, 2001) in Critical Discourse Studies, as well as feminist theories of patriarchy and misogyny (Hooks, 2015;Manne, 2018), the book aims to examine discursive practices within the MGTOW subreddit.DHA is interdisciplinary, which suits the author here as she integrates her manosphere research with historical work on men's movements, feminist theories of patriarchy, and the notion of sexist oppression from gender and women's studies.In doing this, the book answers the call by KhosraviNik and Esposito (2018) to study online sexism from an integrated perspective of critical discourse analysis, social media research, and feminist theory.It also responds to Krendel et al.'s (2022) call for more research on the representation of women and feminism in the manosphere.Specifically, it focuses on argumentative topoi (content-related warrants that link arguments to conclusions, see Wodak, 2001) and other discursive strategies that represent and legitimize male separatist ideology.The book consists of seven chapters.Chapter 1 introduces the problem of online misogyny.It underscores the urgent need to examine the manosphere, which allows misogynist and antifeminist ideologies to circulate and, for young men in particular, find confirmation for their worldviews.Chapter 2 introduces the research background of the book.The author first argues how postfeminist ideas, sexism, and derogatory depictions of feminism enable and reinforce antifeminism.The chapter then traces the historical development of organized antifeminism.It first introduces the early pro-feminist men's liberation movement, which employs sex role theory (see Messner, 1998) to argue that patriarchy also harms men.Subsequently, it discusses the men's rights movement, which critiques feminism and portrays men as the victims of gender inequality.It also examines the mythopoetic men's movement, which promotes occasional men-only events (e.g., wilderness retreats, stadium rallies) as a way to restore inner masculinity.On the basis of research about such communities, Aiston positions MGTOW as the separatist camp of the manosphere, which seeks self-improvement through disengagement from women.