From toxic masculinity podcasts to divorce court, “manosphere” ideologies are leaving a trail of broken marriages, according to legal experts.
When Anni Kim’s then-husband made an off-color comment about how changing diapers was a “woman’s job,” she thought he was joking.
But it turned out to be the tip of the iceberg — and she believes her husband got sucked into the universe of the manosphere.
At the time, five years ago, Kim, 33, was working as a travel nurse, picking up long shifts during COVID and supporting her ex during his doctor’s residency in Los Angeles. But as she got busier with work, she alleged that misogynistic comments about her appearance, how wives belong in the kitchen, and how lucky Kim was to be with him mounted.
“It was a huge switch in his character,” Kim told The Post. “I remember thinking, ‘I don’t even know who you are.’”
Kim believed her former spouse’s alleged change in behavior stemmed from a period of career uncertainty and from his consumption of male-centric podcasts like “The Joe Rogan Experience.” She alleges that during this time, he also began investing more in his appearance — buying grooming kits, styling his hair, dieting and running.
Eventually, things reached a breaking point, and after only two years of marriage, Kim asked for a divorce, to which she claims he said in a condescending tone, “I’m a white surgeon, you’re really going to leave me?”
“He wanted a wife to take care of him,” Kim said.
“He would say things like ‘You should be cooking, I don’t understand why you’re getting takeout,’” she claims. “I was, like, because I’m f—-ing tired. He wanted the ’50s, ’60s housewives, but I was working full time and supporting him.”
The Post reached out to Kim’s ex for comment, but he only responded to say he wished her well in her pursuits.
Experiences like Kim’s have become more common in recent years, with an uptick in the last 12 to 18 months, according to New York-based attorney James Sexton.
Many blame the growing influence of the “manosphere,” a network of influencers, podcasts, and online communities that promote masculinity, misogyny, and rigid ideas about gender roles.
Controversial, self-styled political influencers like Sneako — who has been chastised for deeply offensive and antisemitic views — reach millions of male viewers with content often framed as satire but primarily centered on male dominance and status.
In the recent Netflix documentary “Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere,” his impact is evident as he’s mobbed by young men in NYC, eager for selfies and fist bumps.
Others, like Myron Gaines, co-host of the popular male “self-improvement” podcast “Fresh&Fit,” which has more than 1.5 million YouTube subscribers and is a major fixture in the “manosphere,” promote “alpha male” ideology, often through antagonistic exchanges with female guests.
Targeting insecure men, “looksmaxxing” influencer and streamer Clavicular has also built a following of almost 600,000 Instagram followers by promoting extreme, often dangerous ways for men to improve their physical appearance and build their confidence.
Sexton explained that this pervasive “forest of people” online, combined with the algorithm, makes male consumers “extremely confident” in their beliefs, which John Puls, a therapist who works with men and couples, describes as a “perfect storm.”
Puls says the mix of fragile identity and social isolation makes it easier for men to fall into this trap.
“They don’t have a fully formed sense of who they are, and then they find solace and comfort in the manosphere, because it starts to explain to them why they feel this way and gives them something to blame,” he explained to The Post.
While the content varies in extremity, the effect is often the same, and the shift doesn’t always announce itself. Instead, divorce attorneys involved in manosphere-influenced breakups told The Post that it often begins more subtly.
“No one is saying, ‘I’ve been influenced by the manosphere,’” Sexton pointed out. “They’re saying [often to their wives], ‘I want respect,’ or ‘We don’t share the same values anymore.’”
Across their practices, experts are also seeing men wanting relationships with more traditional gender roles.
“They prefer someone at home, not putting their career first,” divorce attorney Ankit Kapoor told The Post.
In some cases, that shift is driven by insecurity. When a wife’s career outpaces her husband’s, some men fall into cycles of resentment, said matrimonial attorney at Blank Rome, Ali Fishbein, leading them to want “somebody who’s more traditional, somebody younger, who will allow them to be the alpha male,” she explained to The Post.
Rachel, 40, who asked to use a pseudonym because she’s in the midst of a divorce from her reinvented alpha male husband, said he “lost his sense of reality.”
She alleges her soon-to-be-ex spending “hours and hours … scrolling on reels,” engaging in online arguments, a claim that he confirmed was a result of suffering from depression and an escape from their marriage.
The social media agency owner said her estranged partner was constantly seeking validation through comments and likes, all while his behavior became more aggressive and abusive towards her. Her ex, however, denies these allegations, citing contention on both sides.
“He was so controlling. I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen. I also didn’t do the laundry right … But he never did the dishes. The day he moved, he left me in such a mess because he had like 18 half-finished projects going around the house,” Rachel alleged to The Post. Text messages reviewed also indicated this was a conversation had between the couple.
“Instead of actually looking at themselves and going to therapy, these men are turning to platforms [and thinking] ‘No, I’m right … Those women are wrong.’”
Another 34-year-old entrepreneur, who asked to remain anonymous due to an ongoing legal battle, experienced this firsthand in her marriage.
She had been with her husband for a decade, married for six years, and described their relationship as having more love than she’d ever experienced.
But in June 2025, she recalls her husband starting to question his identity and what he wanted out of life.
“I think a lot of the relationship, he didn’t really know himself,” she surmised.
The California native, who comes from a background in personal development, was supportive of her ex’s need to explore himself, but the issue was where he turned for answers.
She recalls him allegedly frequently listening to Rogan’s podcast and absorbing conservative content on Twitter.
After telling her he was in traditional therapy, she claims she later discovered he had actually spent thousands on “high value man” influencers, guised as relationship therapists. The therapists promoted alpha male ideologies and framed relationships in terms of status and return on investment.
“What ‘high value man’ content in an identity crisis equals is a spiral, because it gives men an out,” she said. “Instead of facing themselves.”
During this time, she said she recalls him reworking his image — claiming he was training for HYROX races and asking ChatGPT for weight-loss advice.
“He became obsessed with what makes a man attractive, the facial composition, and what doesn’t make you high value,” she explained to The Post.
The entrepreneur also alleged her ex-husband got wrapped up in status symbols and spent tons on luxury cars and trips abroad, in pursuit of a version of success that felt increasingly disconnected from their life together.
As a newly self-described libertarian who favored individual freedom and limited government intervention, she recalls that her husband pushed to dissolve their legal bond. Still, he wanted to maintain some sort of relationship with her.
“I went from a human woman who he was in love with to seeing the world through the lens of who ‘therapists’ were valuing,” she said.
“I believe in real love, and I’m, like, you can’t quantify that. There’s no price tag on it,” she added. “Which is ultimately why I couldn’t be with him anymore. I’m not f–king investment, I’m a partnership.”
The hardest part for the 34-year-old wasn’t just the end of the marriage — it was more so trying to wrap her head around how the “system” changed the person she fell in love with.
But rather than being angry at him, she said she’s saddened by how the polarizing “manosphere” messaging can tear apart relationships.
“He’s very intelligent,” she said. “I think, eventually, he’ll realize what happened to him.”
But for her, the damage is already done.
