Self-help and masculinity
Speech acts in an online men’s group
This study investigates the interactional norms of a manosphere discussion forum known as The Red Pill
(TRP), and asks whether it can be conceptualised as a self-help group. 2104 posts and comments from regular users and
high-status users in the community were analysed qualitatively to determine how the community is characterised by certain speech
acts, and how these speech acts correspond to face-enhancement and face-threat as well as to certain impression management
strategies.
Since personal disclosure, advice-giving, and face-enhancement are key characteristics of TRP, it
could be argued that TRP shares some functional characteristics with self-help communities. However, much of the
advice given is unsolicited, a disproportionately high rate of face-enhancement is directed towards high-status users, and speech
acts such as elaborating, and some advice-giving and personal disclosure seem to be used for self-promotion purposes. Furthermore,
the prevalence of unhedged face-threats sets TRP apart from traditional supportive communities.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Men, self-help, and self-disclosure
- 3.Data selection, collection and preparation
- 4.Methodology
- 5.Results and discussion
- 5.1Face-enhancing and face-threatening speech acts
- 5.2Other speech acts
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
-
References