Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación

Hate speech in the digital media is particularly harmful not only to degraded people, but also to society as a whole, because it fosters stereotypical attitudes and aggravates intergroup relations. Efforts by legislators, social media managers, and the media to eliminate these expressions have proven insufficient. This can be seen in the growth of the Manosphere, a fragmented group of digital communities that promote misogynistic discourses from a victimized perspective of male identity (Han & Yin, 2023). Of particular concern is that the various identities—Men’s Rights Activists, Men Going Their Own Way, Pick Up Artists, and Incels (Ging, 2019)—are made up not only of adult men but especially of young men (Zugasti-Hervás, 2022), and that these subcultures are joined by anti-feminist communities with far-right ideologies (Lacalle, Martín-Jiménez & Etura-Hernández, 2023; Juárez-Miro & Toff, 2022). Furthermore, these identities are constantly evolving (Kyparissiadis & Skoulas, 2021), though not in isolation. That is to say, there is a feedback loop through various echo chambers (Krendel et al., 2022). Therefore, the influence of this ecosystem in the real world constitutes a genuine threat (Ebner, 2021).
This special issue aims to consolidate research on the recognition of ‘dominant narratives’ in sexist and misogynistic expressions. We invite contributions that identify the characteristics of these written, visual, and audiovisual discourses within their respective online contexts, and that help to understand the behavior and interactions that are established among users participating in these conversations (ethnographic studies). Finally, this call welcomes studies that propose counter-reply strategies that might be able to challenge these negative arguments and stereotypes through various methods (including, but not limited to, machine-learning algorithms).
The lines of research that would be possible to pursue are:
– The dominant narratives of the various identities within the Manosphere in forums and social networks.
– Sexist and misogynistic expressions in different media (film, television, digital press).
– Sexism in public discourse and political representations.
– The antifeminism of the far-right in different countries.
– The potential of AI to detect and/or respond to misogynistic and sexist expressions.
– Strategies to encourage user responses to mitigate the impact and support of such hate speech.

Deadline for articles: July 1, 2026

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