Just look at the pop-culture icons glorified in sigma grindset posts. Euphoria's Nate Jacobs dominates his girlfriends emotionally and physically; Patrick Bateman picks off women to kill in sadistic ways. “The fact that [Bateman] is a satire of the emptiness of materialist consumer capitalism is apparently lost on those promoting him as [hustle culture] inspiration,” Squirrell says.
History shows there is real danger in content that targets disillusioned men and offers them the chance to change their life instantly. “Sigma content promises men success and fulfillment if they adhere to certain principles of self-mastery,” Squirrel explains. When those things don't materialise, “some of those men will become embittered and cynical”. We saw this, he says, in the early 2010s, when men and boys “who felt let down by the red pill" became further radicalised and "turned to incel-like culture and the nihilistic ‘black pill’".
“Incel communities are much larger now, and there is an easier funnel for disillusioned people to move from sigma grindset content to suicidal black pill content, with misogyny the common theme between the two,” he warns.
On the surface, sigma grindset is perhaps an unsurprising amalgamation of TikTok's most popular trends, packaging together self-care and self-help for men with buzzy pop-culture references. Part of the appeal of sigma grindset, like the revolving TikTok personalities that gain traction every few months, is how fun it is to ascribe a label to yourself and feel validated - like an online personality quiz allows people to identify as part of a club. Sigma grindset offers men the chance to change the narrative on their feelings of loneliness and alienation, as well as the illusion that a fulfilling life is just a push-up or paycheque away.
But while sigma grindset might be dismissed as shitposting and a parody of hustle culture, the messages and language behind it aren't a joke and should worry us all. The sigma mindset's sexist view of society as a fight for dominance, and women as capital, has worrying echoes of other male-dominated corners of the internet; secret clubs that we know all too well have invaded the real world too.
