A former Miss Wales from Baglan has fronted a hard-hitting new S4C documentary on the online “manosphere” and its growing influence on young men in Wales.
Sara Manchipp, who was crowned Miss Wales in 2011 and studied in Swansea, presents the two-part series — drawing on her own experience of being stalked, and on ground-breaking research by academics at Swansea University.
Sara Manchipp: I Mewn i’r Manosphere is available now across S4C’s digital platforms, including S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
The programme asks what the manosphere is, and why a culture of online misogyny appears to be taking hold among some young men — and what it is doing to the men drawn into it.
Among those who speak candidly is Abishek, a young man who describes how an online trend called “looksmaxxing” — focused obsessively on maximising physical attractiveness — pushed him to the brink during a difficult period in his teens.
“At the age of 14 I was standing at my bathroom mirror at 2am with a hammer in my hands having tears running down my face,” he says in the programme. “I started thinking about everything and decided to lower the hammer.”
Abishek is part of a group of young men calling themselves “Men Tomorrow”, alongside Josh Sargent and Chase Campbell, a member of the Welsh Youth Parliament for Blaenau Gwent.
Campbell links the problem to the loss of community and opportunity in parts of Wales.
“The problem in Wales can be quite unique, especially with the area I’m from in the Valleys — an area that’s experienced really heavy economic deprivation over the past 40, 45 years now,” he says.
“Like lack of social spaces, lack of role models, no kind of real career prospects — making people turn to more desperate places online.”
He also points to the disappearance of youth clubs and community centres, with more than a thousand having closed across the country in 15 years.
The series is built on research by Swansea University, home to world-leading experts in the field.
Dr Andrew Thomas and Dr Joe Whittaker carried out one of the largest studies of its kind into incels — predominantly young men who often blame feminism for women’s greater autonomy in relationships.
Their work examined the lived experiences and psychological profiles of those involved, including mental health and neurodiversity, as well as how they respond to incel ideology online.
“Angry young men who are unable to form relationships have always existed — that’s nothing new,” Dr Whittaker says.
“Fifty years ago, however, it wasn’t easy to find others who shared extreme ideological views. What the internet has fundamentally changed is the ability to find and connect with those communities — and that is significant.”
For the documentary, the researchers worked with S4C and Colegau Cymru, which represents further education colleges across Wales, on a survey of 16 to 20-year-olds — the first of its kind to ask both young men and women about misogyny, online experiences, pornography and mental health.
For Manchipp, the subject is deeply personal. She has spoken of being stalked and threatened by a man later convicted of attempting to murder someone else.
Now a mother to a young son, she says the experience has shaped her fears for the world he will grow up in.
“Tomos, my son, is the light of my life. My experience with a stalker has made me much more worried about the world he’s going to grow up in,” she says.
“Where did he get the idea that the only way to get a woman’s attention is by frightening her? How many other men think the same way — and what can we do to stop it?”
The series combines that research with the lived experiences of young people across Wales, offering a timely look at a phenomenon increasingly shaping how a generation sees one another.
Sara Manchipp: I Mewn i’r Manosphere is available now on S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
If you or someone you know is struggling, the Samaritans can be reached free, day or night, on 116 123. Children and young people can contact Childline free on 0800 1111.
