Book Review: Simon James Copland, The Male Complaint: The Manosphere and Misogyny Online

Considering the rise of lone actor violence motivated by misogynistic extremism, Simon Copland’s book The Male Complaint provides a timely analysis of the driving forces behind the growing popularity of extreme misogynist ideologies emanating from online communities known as the manosphere. Illustrating the significance of the threat was the lone actor crossbow attack against two young women in Leeds, England, in April 2025 by an adherent of the manosphere who posted his misogynistic manifesto online prior to the incident. In this book, Copland challenges the dominant discourse on the manosphere, arguing against the reductive emphasis on gender and instances of terrorism in existing public and academic discourse.