Whitlock: Pearl Davis and the ‘manosphere’ cash in on the failures of the church

The manosphere, a loose confederation of male, anti-feminist internet content creators, loves Pearl Davis.

She is our queen, our ally in the fight to save the patriarchy. She’s a soldier in the coldest, longest-running war in the history of the planet, a war that is heading to a climax as you read this. It’s the gender war, the battle of the sexes, the matriarchy vs. the patriarchy.

A spat sparked by a disagreement over an apple in the garden has brought the world to the brink of collapse. We should not be surprised. The issues and conflicts we ignore or wish away are the very maladies that destroy us.

We hyperfocus on racial, political, and geographical conflict, falsely believing that solving those disputes will bring us peace and order. We draw lines in sand with conservatives and liberals, between blacks and whites, and among bordering nations. We’re willing to die over race, politics, and land encroachments.

The planet-long dispute between men and women forces us to compromise. Those compromises have led us where we are today. Men have been seduced into surrendering power and authority to women. The emotion and feelings of women rule Western civilization.

This has created the manosphere, an isolated, passionate corner of the internet where men grumble about their loss of dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth. The matriarchy and its culture have rewritten the book of Genesis. Their rewrite warns against being fruitful, multiplying, and replenishing the earth.

Man no longer subdues the earth. Woman subdues man.

In this climate, Pearl Davis is a tall glass of water in a feminist-controlled desert. She’s joined the manosphere in discussing the most important issue facing mankind: the natural order of authority.

The church has shied away from the topic or acquiesced to the feminist point of view. This topic goes much deeper than prominent evangelists such as Rick Warren ushering in an egalitarian view on pastoral leadership.

What are the consequences of women voting and joining the workforce? Have welfare and other government subsidies undermined male rulership and made America chaotic and vulnerable? Has the country gone too far promoting the development of girls and neglected the development of boys?

All of these issues and many more need to dominate the pulpit. They’re mostly ignored and left to the manosphere.

Bold, polarizing, and humorous, Pearl Davis won the adoration of the manosphere with a string of viral videos that proclaim the superiority of men and mock the delusion and whoredom of modern women.

What’s not to love? Pearl tells men of the manosphere exactly what we want to hear:

Women should submit to their husbands.
America should repeal the 19th Amendment.
Women aren’t as valuable as men.
Women should expect and accept that “high value” men will cheat.

From her temporary home in London, the Chicago native is building an online empire that may one day rival Andrew Tate’s. She has approximately 1.5 million YouTube subscribers. Her rants arguing against women voting and their declining beauty and fertility in their 30s are adding thousands of Twitter followers daily.

She’s mastered the art of triggering both conservative and liberal women.

Yesterday, I interviewed Pearl on my show, "Fearless with Jason Whitlock." It was my first interaction with the six-foot volleyball player turned internet influencer. We chatted for a little more than 30 minutes. I liked her.

Later that evening, I participated in a Twitter Spaces conversation for two hours that discussed the importance and authenticity of Pearl’s meteoric rise to relevance. Shemeka Michelle, Lauren Chen, and Isabella Riley Moody participated in a nuanced conversation with myself, T.J. Moe, and men and women across the Twitterverse.

The full day of discussing “Pearlythingz” left me wondering if the well-intentioned influencer is more of an unwitting double agent than force for good. She stumbled into her role as a cheerleader for the manosphere and outspoken critic of feminism. She studied finance in college. She launched her influencer career on TikTok posting videos about building a waterslide in her family’s backyard. She then made sarcastic videos interpreting raunchy rap music videos as the stereotypical suburban white girl.

She had a simple goal: She wanted to earn enough money to move out of her parents’ house. She achieved that goal when she leaned into being the female voice of the manosphere. Her innocent, girl-next-door charm mixed with her natural conservative values made her unique and irresistible.

She’s Shirley Temple parroting the talking points of Andrew Tate. I don’t say that to dismiss her. I love Pearl. I find her entertaining and authentic.

But I have to admit there is some danger to Pearl. My conversation last night on Twitter Spaces helped me see the danger.

While mocking the delusion of modern women, Pearl inadvertently condones the delusion of modern men. Make no mistake, the manosphere is delusional. It delights in ridiculing the failures of women without recognizing that their failures are a reflection of men’s horrendous leadership.

The manosphere argues that the problem with the world is the fallen standards and morality of women. The truth is it is man’s fallen standards and morality that have ruined women and the world.

The manosphere wants women to fall in line and submit to the natural order of male leadership while relieving men of the responsibility of falling in line and submitting to the natural order.

The natural order is man follows God and woman follows man. The manosphere rejects God’s order of cleaving to one woman and avoiding adultery. It’s one of the reasons we find Pearl irresistible. She repeats the Kevin Samuels' mantra that “high-value men” are going to be promiscuous and that women seeking high-achieving men should learn to accept that fact.

The manosphere believes it’s natural for men to cheat and/or be promiscuous. Well, it’s equally natural for women to usurp authority from men. Should we allow that?

We want women to slay their flawed instincts. The key to inspiring them to do that is for men to slay their flawed instincts.

Pearl, like all of us, has much to learn. She needs a biblical understanding of the value of women. Man cannot reproduce and has little life purpose without women. I don’t blame Pearl for her naive and misguided thoughts. I don’t blame the manosphere, either. I blame the church for not being as bold and courageous as Pearl and the manosphere.