Happy Thursday!
In the past week or so, I’ve seen a lot of think pieces, reportage, and discourse about the manosphere and how it's bled into the everyday internet, which I’ve linked for you here. Also in this newsletter, Harry Styles engaging in fan service, Pinterest’s parenting report, CashApp brings The Moment to life, and more.
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Since Clavicular, the popular looksmaxxing streamer, has emerged in the mainstream conversation, people have been discussing how much the mansophere has infiltrated the culture and how little it’s being covered in a meaningful way.
Over the past few years, social platforms have increasingly swung right. In 2024, every major social media site, aside from a pre-American TikTok, favored conservative influencers. A November 2025 investigation by Sky News found that new X users were exposed to twice as much right-wing content than left-wing posts.
It's no wonder then that previously fringe, sexist online subcultures have made their way into popular trends and vernacular. People are, knowingly or not, being steeped in the right-wing sludge everyday. Whether you are aware of or agree with the origins or not, previously unintelligible manospheric slang, particularly from incel communities, has stuck.
In particular, the suffixes “-maxxing” and “-mogged” have dominated feeds and even media coverage. I admit to using many of these phrases myself in recent years, which you know if you’ve been reading this newsletter for awhile. But this language has also been seen in The Cut with the infamous “frictionmaxxing” column and even in interviews with Alysa Liu, who said she came to the Olympics to “mog.”
Is this usage a bad thing? The ever-changing nature of language has mostly overpowered the insidious origins of these suffixes, so most people using them now aren’t trying to communicate some incel manifesto or misogynist screed.
Yet, it is a fascinating example of how the right-wing internet has become ubiquitous in the culture, which is an unsettling reminder of its enduring influence. These communities are no longer radicalizing in the shadows. Instead, they have become normalized and have adopted more subtle tactics to promote conservatism. This has even led to the rise of the womanosphere in the past year. What part of culture will the right-wing atmosphere infiltrate next?
It’s times like these that make you miss MEL Magazine. I saw a newsletter post from The Rebooting suggesting that there needed to be a publication like The Cut about men and masculinity. I think MEL did it and GQ does it. But if it’s a matter of attracting the audience, I think it’s difficult to compete with these reactionary shock jocks online.
In the meantime, some good reads about this recent uptick of manosphere memes and language:
“Everyone Speaks Incel Now” by Miles Klee in WIRED
“Mog, maxxing and the other manosphere lingo that has taken over social media” by Pilar Melendez and Allan Smith in NBC News
“Inside Clavicular’s Thirsty Tour of New York City” by Kieran Press-Reynolds in GQ
Other things I want to share with you
If you’ve had a weird or difficult few days, I have too. We are entering the latest Mercury retrograde that runs from Feb. 26 to March 20, which astrologists say will be particularly intense and frustrating. Awesome stuff! The Cut put together a survival guide, if you’re into that sort of thing (I am).
Harries, or Harry Styles fans, have been central to his new album rollout for Kiss All the Time. Disco Occasionally, which is out on March 6. It’s clear in the way Styles has held numerous global listening parties, posted fans dancing on his Instagram Stories, and appeared on superfan Brittany Broski’s YouTube show Royal Court.
Pinterest released its first parenting report, indicating a strong desire to build more boundaries for children. From putting more limits on screen time to adopting more authoritative approaches to gentle parenting, it appears parents are indeed — forgive my constant referencing of this — frictionmaxxing, as The Cut’s parenting columnist suggested in January.
CashApp released limited edition brat Visa cards, making a piece of The Moment a reality.
Tonight is the finale for The Traitors. Rob Rausch has played a hell of a game and will probably win. I’m almost certain he will betray his fellow, final Traitor. Rausch honestly irritates me, but it would be fun to have a Traitor win this year.
Rising pop star Eli is seeking submissions from artists to potentially support her on tour.
Corinne Bailey Rae is going on tour. If you haven’t listened to her since “Put Your Records On,” may I suggest putting on “New York Transit Queen”? Do not expect it to sound even remotely like the first song.
Megan Thee Stallion is making her Broadway debut in Moulin Rouge as Zidler, the first woman to play the role.
I am convinced the Friend AI founder Avi Schiffmann — you know, the one who was flamed for overtaking the subway with his AI companion ads — is simply in the business of ragebaiting. He posted a clip of an interview as part of a docuseries showing his company’s users, but the video simply reinforces the idea that his product is exacerbating depressing and antisocial behavior.