Traditional masculinity is becoming a major force in the future of violent extremism. While race remains central, masculinity—centered on control, dominance, and discipline—is just as influential. Gender and race work side by side to reinforce rigid hierarchies and offer a sense of order, identity, and purpose.
Online spaces are key to this shift. Extremist groups use memes, aesthetics, and emotionally charged content to promote a stylized version of masculinity—tough, loyal, in control, and supposedly under threat. Ideology often comes later. What comes first is a feeling: connection, belonging, shared frustration. That emotional groundwork makes more extreme content easier to accept over time.
Recruitment is also changing. It’s no longer just about persuasion—it’s relational and slow. Young people facing instability, isolation, or chaos are targeted early, often without realizing what they’re being drawn into. The process often looks like grooming: trust is built first, ideology comes later.
This shift has serious implications for how radicalization is understood and addressed. If recruitment is driven by emotion, identity, and belonging—not just belief systems—then prevention efforts need to respond to how masculinity is being shaped and weaponized online. It's not just about countering ideas, but challenging the emotional and cultural pull that makes those ideas appealing in the first place.
Understanding how traditional masculinity functions in extremist spaces is key to seeing where violent extremism is heading—and why it remains so effective in pulling people in.
Jamie R. Noulty holds an MA in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from Simon Fraser University, and is currently in the PhD Cultural Studies Program at Queens University. His research and work focus are on gendered violence, masculinity, post-conflict, extremism, and emerging men’s studies.
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