Digital spaces enable new forms of belonging. Virtual kin and chosen families are expressions of queer-feminist and solidarity-based countercultures. At the same time, gaming communities and digital social spaces are increasingly politically contested as they are used for mobilization by the far right. Terms such as the “male loneliness epidemic,” “incels,” or the “manosphere” are used to frame young men’s loneliness as a consequence of feminist achievements.

A discursive evening with Simoné Goldschmidt-Lechner (author, Nerd Girl Magic, Verbrecher Verlag 2025), Aurelia Brandenburg (historian, Arbeitskreis Geisteswissenschaften und Digitale Spiele), and Eli Scambor (Researcher on masculinities and gender studies, VMG Graz)
Moderated by Kathrin Trattner (Expert in digital media, gender, and religion)
Curated by Julia Knaß and Annika Stich