Sun, sea, and sexism on <i>Love Island</i> : Twitter (now X) user responses to ‘laddish’ masculinities and misogynistic discursive distancing on television

In the summer of 2022, Twitter (now X) users took to their platform to highlight the “lad culture” and misogynistic actions of the men contestants on Season 8 of the reality show Love Island. In this article, we examine their interpretations of two aspects of lad culture—“banter” and the “lads’ holiday”—and associated misogyny. We found that Twitter users who watched Love Island had a complex relationship with banter. Some valorised it as an important form of social capital and intimacy, while others noted banter and the geo-temporal liminal space of the “lads’ holiday” were used by the men contestants to discursively distance themselves from their own misogynistic actions. We add to the literature about British lad cultures and feminist analyses of masculinities in reality TV by highlighting how the social practices of banter and the lads’ holiday are represented on Love Island and interpreted by Twitter users. We advance theoretical approaches by bringing together affect, hybridised, and hegemonic masculinity theories to analyse the role of homosocial “affective intensities” as part of discursive distancing. We conclude with recommendations for makers of reality TV and those involved in anti-misogyny education.