Many are becoming increasingly aware of the rise of misogynistic and hyper-masculine movements online like the 'manosphere', yet few are aware of quite how far it stretches, with secret online forums exposed where you can 'rent' a girlfriend.
Incel culture, short of 'involuntary celibate', has been growing dramatically over the last decade on the web alongside a rise in extreme far-right movements led by some of social media's most controversial figures.
While these movements – alongside the manosphere – aim to emphasize traditional masculinity, they frequently do so through misogynistic means with incels in particular feeling as if modern feminist movements have denied them the relationships and sexual interactions they feel they 'deserve'.
This is an especially notable topic following the release of the recent Louis Theroux documentary on Netflix, where the filmmaker exposed the views of a number of popular online figures, but one prominent documentarian on YouTube had added to the conversation with a frightening exposé on some of the internet's darkest spaces.
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Ben Zand, otherwise known as Zandland, released a video delving deep into the legion of incels who 'rent' girlfriends through hidden forums, some of which occur on sites as commonplace as Reddit.
These forums allow individuals, who are almost always young men, to post their requirements for a potential romantic partner and then provide financial compensation for anyone who offers up their 'services'.
Zand managed to speak to one man in his 20s, identified within the documentary as 'T', who has frequently used these platforms to rent girlfriends of his own, recounting the experience and his reasons for doing so.
As a foundation he believes that he has been 'locked out' of the sexual marketplace by the freedom of choice that dating apps like Tinder afford women in the modern age, and sought out alternative options that swing the balance of power in his direction.
Explaining how the process works, T revealed: "So sellers will make their post, and you can go to them and message them yourself, and usually you start with the physical aspects, you'd say, 'I want a woman who's, you know, 18 to 23'."
Women will then provide what he calls a 'sales pitch', with some of the 'best ones' allowing men to trial their services without paying up front.
"I guess it's one of those things where once you try and do it and you have a decent time, you suddenly realize like, I can suddenly get whatever girl I want just by paying them, isn't that like the dream in a sense," he proposed.
When asked how much he thinks he has spent on these rent-a-girlfriend services, T estimates the total to be around £50,000 ($67,000) — a jaw-dropping figure.
While Zand rightly points out that this could be enough to afford a deposit for a house, among plenty of other luxuries in life, T appears to not regret the astonishing figure.
"So even now, saying it out loud, I'm OK with it," he illustrated. "I think experiences are worth paying for, if that makes sense, and yes, it is absolutely a lot of money. I think if you start regretting how you use your money, that's not good for you," he added.
Many understandably were both shocked and appalled at T's comments, however, with one comment noting that "these men don't see women as people."
Another added that "he's paying for the wrong service — go to therapy bro, it's cheaper than 50k," whereas a third noted that it confirmed that "these types of men would rather do anything, spend any amount of money, embrace any ideology besides WORK ON THEMSELVES."