The Role of Red Pill Content, Cultural Masculinity Internalization, and MoralDesensitization in Increased Femicide Incidence in South Asia

Abstract

This paper examined connections among Red Pill exposure, the internalization of cultural
masculinity, and the moral desensitization of women, and the level of femicide in South Asia. A
cross-sectional study design was used to administer online and face-to-face surveys to 600 urban
and semi-urban adult men in Punjab, Pakistan, in which they were measured on Red Pill content
engagement, masculinity norms, and moral attitudes toward women. Bootstrapped
direct, indirect and serial analysis through structural equation modeling (5,000 resamples) was
conducted. Findings showed that the exposure to Red Pill was positively correlated with the
incidence of femicide directly and indirectly through increased cultural masculinity internalization
and dehumanisation. The sequential nature of the relationship between content exposure and
internalized masculinity, the next step, moral disengagement, and high levels of femicide was
confirmed by serial mediation analysis. The results emphasize the psychological processes that
connect digital misogyny to gender-based violence and offer allusions to interventions aimed to
overcome the masculinity norms, moral cognition, and exposure to online content to reduce fatal
consequences.