ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Social Networks
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fhumd.2025.1639391
This article is part of the Research TopicDigital Citizenship in the New Era of Social MediaView all 18 articles
Antifeminist opinion leaders on YouTube: analysis of discourse and its influence on the perception of violence among young Spanish audiences
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universidad Nebrija, Madrid, Spain
- 2Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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The present study examines the role of anti-feminist discourse on YouTube. The research is framed within the context of the rise of the feminist movement and the anti-feminist response on social media. It explores the way in which such discourse may influence young people's perceptions of gender-based violence. The main aim was to analyse anti-feminist content created by opinion leaders on YouTube over a six-month period by identifying the discursive frameworks employed, examining young people's interaction with content and evaluating its potential impact on perceptions of gender-based violence. A mixed research design was employed that combined quantitative and qualitative analysis. Fanpage Karma and Audiense Insights tools were used to examine engagement metrics and audience characteristics pertaining to 500 posts from five influential Spanish YouTubers. Outcomes revealed that, whilst criticism of feminism remains central to such discourse, the issue has become more complex, often intertwining with far-right narratives. The trivialisation of violence against women was observed with a predominantly young audience (25-34 years old) mostly being exposed. In conclusion, anti-feminist discourse on YouTube represents a multifaceted phenomenon that perpetuates misogynistic attitudes and serves as a gateway to broader radical right ideologies. The growing reach and influence of such channels underscore the urgent need to develop educational strategies to counter such narratives amongst young audiences.
Keywords: social networks, influencers, opinion leaders, Anti-feminism, manosphere, gender-based violence, Young audiences, social perceptions
Received: 02 Jun 2025; Accepted: 17 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Brandariz Portela, Del Pino-Díaz, Ortega-Fernández and Padilla-Castillo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Graciela Padilla-Castillo, gracielp@ucm.es
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