For a while now, Sheryl Sandberg has drawn attention to the cultural shift embodied by the rise of tradwife and manosphere content. “The problem with the romanticized vision of the tradwife is that it signals to women that to be a good wife, partner, or mother, you have to do it full-time,” she wrote online in March. 

The reality is most women can’t afford not to work outside the home. That aside, Sandberg believes the ideas embraced by these influencers can be deeply damaging for working mothers, making them feel guilty for working outside the home or harboring any ambition. “I’m worried that the glamorization of the tradwife trend risks putting that guilt back into women—guilt that many of us have worked long and hard to shed,” Sandberg added in her post.

But there are other harms that await working women as these movements take hold and revive outdated notions about who belongs in leadership roles or in the workforce. New research from Sandberg’s feminist organization Lean In reveals that the amorphous collection of male podcasters and influencers who comprise the manosphere have promoted ideas that are now seeping into the workplace. Nearly half of the men surveyed by Lean In argued that men should be the primary earners for their families. Over a third of men think women are too emotional for demanding jobs, while 42% say men are a better fit for leadership roles. 

These aren’t new beliefs, but Lean In is making a connection between the surge in conservative and outright sexist viewpoints across the internet and its impact on the workplace, where women have notched hard-won gains over the last half century.

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