“Look What He Has Done To Our Lads”: How Mid-Range Trollish Behavior Legitimates Hegemonic Masculinity in Digital Spaces

Abstract

Feminist research focuses on how cisgender men use extreme trolling to reinforce patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity. Less is known, however, about milder forms of trolling and how a range of users participate in this process. This paper analyzes user comments on news coverage of a high-profile case of a man who raped other men to examine how trollish behaviors contribute to the maintenance of hegemonic masculinity in digital spaces. We reconceptualize trolling as a continuum, emphasizing what we call mid-range trollish behavior: posts containing racist, homophobic, or aggressive content, authored across diverse online gender identities, that may be recognized as trolling but also invite interpersonal dialogue. We define online gender identities as the gender that users signal through symbolic cues—such as self-selected pronouns and avatar images—that convey how they wish to be perceived within a specific digital context. We find that mid-range trolling fosters discursive engagement, allowing users to identify perceived threats to the gender order and propose responses that reaffirm its legitimacy. These interactions legitimize hegemonic masculinity by naturalizing rape culture, marginalizing effeminacy, and invoking homophobia, especially when users perceive themselves as closer to the threat. These findings enhance our understanding of how dominant and subordinate groups’ trolling contribute to the circulation of hegemonic masculinity and the maintenance of patriarchy in digital spaces.

Plain Language Summary

“Look what he has done to our lads”: How Milder Forms of Online Trolling Helps Reinforce Traditional Ideas About Being a Man

Most feminist research looks at how men use extreme online trolling to support sexism and traditional male dominance. But less attention has been paid to more subtle forms of trolling—and to how many different kinds of people take part in it. This paper looks at comments on news stories about a man who raped other men, to explore how milder trolling still helps reinforce harmful gender norms online. We think of trolling as happening along a spectrum. In this study, we focus on "mid-range" trolling—comments that include racism, homophobia, or aggressive language, often from people with various online gender identities. These comments might still be considered trolling, but they also spark conversation and debate. We define online gender identity as how people present their gender in digital spaces—through things like their pronouns or profile pictures. Our findings show that mid-range trolling helps people spot what they see as threats to traditional gender roles and push back in ways that support those roles. In doing so, they reinforce ideas like rape culture, mock or reject femininity, and promote homophobia—especially when they feel personally affected. While past research has focused on men using trolling to uphold male dominance, we show that many different users—regardless of how they present their gender—also participate in this process. These insights help explain how both dominant and marginalized groups can contribute to keeping traditional gender hierarchies in place online.