AFL’s Mitch Brown says he nearly fell into the manosphere after marriage split
Brown, the AFL’s first openly bisexual player, says his relationship breakdown left him isolated and increasingly reliant on online content
By Callum Wells
Mitch Brown, who made history last year as the AFL’s first openly bisexual player, has revealed he was almost drawn into the manosphere after his marriage ended.
Brown said the breakdown of his relationship left him isolated and increasingly reliant on online content. Writing for the Guardian, the former West Coast Eagles player said social media algorithms gradually fed him material containing what he now recognises as misogynistic messages.
“This is not something I find easy to admit,” Brown penned. “I struggle to reconcile that version of myself, as recent as two years ago, with the man I am today and the values I so strongly believe in.”
“I watched videos of people criticising feminist voices like Abbie Chatfield and found myself agreeing with them” – Mitch Brown on his changing political opinions
The former Attitude 101 star said he was particularly vulnerable at the time because he viewed himself as a “people pleaser” and felt lost following the separation. He wrote that the end of his marriage left him feeling like “a loser”, “a failure” and a “s**t dad”.
As his social circle shrank, more of his time was spent online. “My world became tiny and that’s where my dependence on the online world grew,” he wrote.
Brown said he was not actively seeking controversial content. Instead, he believes recommendation algorithms gradually exposed him to material that presented women and feminism as the source of men’s problems.
He recounted, “I watched videos of people criticising feminist voices like Abbie Chatfield and found myself agreeing with them. My political beliefs started to change.”
“I am repulsed now by some of my actions and beliefs from that time” – Brown on his former views
Brown credited both his former wife, netballer Shae Bolton-Brown, and his current partner, Lou Keck, with helping him challenge those views.
“I am repulsed now by some of my actions and beliefs from that time, but neither woman ever turned their back on me (although both, particularly Shae, had every right to),” he wrote.
Coming out in an interview with The Daily Aus, Brown reflected on playing 94 games for West Coast before retiring in 2016, marking a decade in the sport.
“I played in the AFL for 10 years for the West Coast Eagles, and I’m a bisexual man,” he said at the time. “There was never an opportunity to speak openly or explore your feelings or questions in a safe way.”
He added that the league needs to embed inclusion “not just in words, but in culture, policies and everyday actions”.