17c起草社区

When Abbie Chatfield announced a national tour titled Abbie Chatfield Loves Men, it no doubt ruffled some manly feathers.

It鈥檚 a gag, of course 鈥� she follows it with an asterisked 鈥�*Not all men鈥� 鈥� but the message behind it is actually very sincere.

Abbie has become one of Australia’s loudest feminist voices, never shying away from conversations about misogyny, relationships, politics and identity. Her new live show, ‘Abbie Chatfield Loves Men,聽takes aim at the manosphere.

As she puts it, the men yelling about a loneliness epidemic aren’t necessarily wrong 鈥� they’re just being sold the wrong solution.

“Men are kicking and screaming right now [that] they’re in a crisis,” she tells 17c起草社区. “What is true is that men do feel they are lonely… but I believe it’s the messaging from the manosphere, from other men that are telling them that they are inherently worthless.”

Announcing the show, Abbie wrote that “patriarchy harms men, and the cure to that harm is feminism, not MORE patriarchy.”

Right now, influencers promising to teach men how to become “alphas” continue to rack up millions of views.

Abbie has spent months disappearing down the horrifying online rabbit-holes of the manosphere while researching this new show. She shares that what surprised her wasn’t necessarily the misogyny (she expected that, obvs) 鈥� it was the extraordinary, staggering levels of profit that manosphere influencers were raking in.聽

“I realised this is a financial ecosystem that is creating more and more lonely, sad men,” she says. “It鈥檚 so insidious and manipulative… it would be very hard to get out of.”

Rather than trying to debate people who consistently operate in bad faith, she figured she’d take a different approach.

“I think the best solution is to just laugh at them and point out how ridiculous all of this is; try and strip them of their power.”

“[It鈥檚] not because 鈥榤en suffering鈥� is funny. What I find funny is what these men in the manosphere are trying to do. It’s funny how obviously contradictory and ironic all the messaging is.”

Abbie insists she’s not interested in being a culture war figure 鈥� she just wants to make people chuckle and think at the same time. Her goal is for everyone to have a laugh together while unpacking the atrocious absurdity of it all, how the manosphere makes men shell out money for a “cure”, for issues the influencers themselves created in the first place.

Asked what healthy masculinity actually looks like, she points to the men already modelling it.

“My beautiful partner Adam is an amazing example… he’s really unafraid to show his emotions, he’s very calm and measured.”聽

“I also think that I’m quite averse to even labelling things as masculine or feminine,” she explains. “We all should try and just be nice, supportive people.”

That rejection of rigid boxes around identity is something that is very likely to resonate with many 17c起草社区IA+ folks.

Abbie 鈥� who came out in 2021 鈥� speaks candidly with me about her bisexuality.

“I never ever saw myself as bi because growing up… being a queer woman just wasn’t visible,” she explains.

She explains she still has 鈥渁 complicated relationship鈥� with visibility while being in love with a man, and always does her best聽to balance acknowledging her straight-passing privilege without hiding an important part of herself as a queer woman.

This is an experience many Bi+ people would be able to identify with, and Abbie lays it all out to me with grace, humility, and a remarkable amount of emotional intelligence and nuance.

鈥淚 think queerness is inherently multi-dimensional and complex,鈥� she smiles.

That complexity and nuanced thinking from Abbie will undoubtedly flow through to 鈥楢bbie Chatfield Loves Men鈥�.

Yes, this show is obviously entertainment, and if my laughter-filled interview with Abbie is any indication, it鈥檚 going to wildly funny.

But it鈥檚 also clearly an invitation to have a real conversation about the issues surrounding the manosphere, while staying based in fact and reality, rather than dogma. It鈥檚 also a lovely opportunity to imagine a version of masculinity that isn鈥檛 built on misogyny, resentment or domination.

And look 鈥� if anyone鈥檚 going to successfully smash the patriarchy & dismantle the manosphere 鈥� my money鈥檚 on Abbie 鈥楤i-con鈥� Chatfield as the woman for the job.

Abbie Chatfield Loves Men.

 

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