Hypermasculinity is having a moment. Social influencers are pushing a toxic form of manliness, rife with self-improvement products to help men reach maximum strength and virility.
The “manosphere” promises all manner of benefits — better bodies, success with women and professional prosperity. But the reality — backed by hard scientific evidence — is that conforming to an overly narrow definition of masculinity is associated with a host of serious health problems, including cancer, heart disease, suicidal impulses, poor relationships and loneliness.
The University of Alberta’s leading expert on misinformation, Timothy Caulfield, hosts a new documentary film called Harder Better Faster Stronger. With a humorous and self-effacing touch, Caulfield explores how a multitrillion-dollar wellness industry has shifted from a holistic health movement, led by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop brand, to “a more ideology-fuelled ‘manly’ optimization,” in the words of the film’s promotional blurb.
“In the past decade we’ve witnessed an expansion of what it is to be masculine — more open views of gender and sexuality — and those are all really good things,” says Caulfield. “But that kind of social change can also cause conflict and create a pushback.”
Posing the question, “Can the manosphere actually improve your life?” the misinformation expert meets athletes, artists, men’s groups, scientific experts and others to examine contemporary masculinity. Interviewing the likes of male porn star Quinton James, hip-hop collective the Mixxy Gods, and the first openly gay NHRA drag racer Travis Shumake, Caulfield goes deep into the bizarre and controversial claims emerging from the manosphere.