Taking the Red Pill: Conspiracy Theories, Gender, and the ‘elusive epistemologies’ of the Manosphere

In this article, we analyze the gender politics of the anti-feminist “red pill” or Matrix conspiracy theory. Extending the work of Jaron Harambam and Stef Aupers on how conspiracy theorists legitimize their truth claims in part through “futuristic imaginaries,” we draw attention to the role of popular culture and intertextuality for generating the “common sense” of these beliefs. More specifically, based on a discourse analysis of a representative sample of red pill communities’ YouTube videos, we find that the conspiracy theory draws deliberately on the potent “image bank” of the landmark science fiction film The Matrix (1999) in ways that are more extensive and important for legitimizing violence than currently understood. Beyond the red pill/blue pill metaphor, the Matrix conspiracy theory serves to entrench hierarchical differentiations between masculinities, reproduce narratives of aggrieved sexual entitlement against “feminist oppression,” and advocate for a violent “return” to a more “traditional” gendered, sexual, and racial order.