When was the last time you mogged someone? Have you tried looksmaxxing? What about bonesmashing? Maybe a little bit of mewing? Maybe, if you’re a girl, the terms look a little different: maybe you’re embracing your “divine feminine” or trying to become “boy-pretty.” Although these terms may sound like Instagram-reel gibberish, they all prey on the insecurities of young people and carry disturbing misogynistic undertones. Misogynistic content online, whether thinly veiled or blatantly sexist, is everywhere, reflecting a concerning trend of normalized hatred toward women.

First, misogynistic content targets young men. Incels, who have coined terms like “mogging” and “looksmaxing,” spread sexist content throughout far-reaching online circles. “Incel” is short for “involuntary celibate,” a term used predominantly by young men on forums such as Reddit and 4Chan to describe their frustration with a “lack of sexual experience.”  The fact that we even recognize incel terms like “mogging” and “looksmaxxing” as mainstream is indicative of a concerning trend: incels, although a fringe misogynistic movement, have gained enough reach to impact wide audiences.

But more than a fringe movement, popular conservative influencers frequently berate women on their social media platforms. Charlie Kirk, the now-deceased political commentator, once said of Taylor Swift, “Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.” Ben Shapiro posted on Facebook: “Men and women are not meant to be perfectly equivalent—they are meant to be complementary.” This kind of content, initially popularized by large creators, quickly spreads beyond them, trickling down into countless videos made by everyday users. Spend a bit too much time watching a Ben Shapiro debate, and suddenly, you’re plunged into learning about how women cause the downfall of western civilization. According to the Observer Research Foundation, “Algorithms usually promote emotionally provocative or controversial material by focusing on metrics such as likes and shares, creating feedback loops that amplify polarising narratives.” This means that one sexist video leads to the next, creating a loop of increasingly radical content. The saturation of misogynistic content, created by fringe groups and politicians, desensitizes young men to sexism, further normalizing hatred of women.

But misogynistic content is not produced only by men; it is also produced by women, for women. Albeit more subtle, the misogyny that undergirds each video on how to “increase your divine feminine” or avoid being a “nasty woman” is undeniable. One video made to teach girls the “features that make you ‘boy pretty’” lists having full lips and straight hair—traits aligned with Eurocentric beauty standards and made to appeal to men. Popular female influencers even self-identify as anti-feminist. In the words of Candace Owens, a conservative influencer with over seven million followers on Twitter: “I think that virtually every societal ill that we are facing today is because of women.” Brett Cooper, another influencer with 1.3 million followers on Instagram, explained that “if you aren’t going to the gym, if you aren’t taking care of yourself, if you don’t like children, if you only care about your career, and you hate the patriarchy,” then a good man is “not going to go for you.” The popularity and reach of this content make sexism appear standard.

Let me be clear: I do not believe that due to this content, there is an unbridgeable chasm between men and women, or, in more online terms, a “gender war.” But I do believe that if we accept the rise of incel content, anti-feminist content, and broader misogynistic content as normal, we accept those ideals as correct and proper. We volunteer ourselves to a future rife with laws that restrict women and encourage the growth of a culture that belittles them. When we encounter content with misogynistic undertones, it’s our responsibility to think critically. We have a choice: move forward and accept the agency and intelligence of women as fact, or move backward and succumb to the rhetoric that women are, and have always been, inferior.