Australian female teachers report rising misogyny among students
Australian female teachers report the spread of misogynistic and sexualized remarks by students in schools, which they link, among other things, to the influence of the so-called manosphere. ABC News Australia reports.
Jess, a high school teacher who has worked in education for 12 years, spoke about sexist comments, Nazi gestures, jokes about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and personal questions directed at female teachers. According to her, students also resorted to physical intimidation: they could stand too close to a teacher or surround her while she was on duty.
The impact of online content
The manosphere refers to an environment of online influencers and content creators who portray men and boys as victims of gender equality and seek to promote patriarchal and traditional gender roles. Jess believes that such content affects the behavior of some schoolchildren. At the same time, she suggested that some students may be reproducing the views of men in their own families.
Another teacher, Kirsty, who works as a substitute across various subjects, said that students’ systematic sexualized behavior and violations of personal boundaries had undermined her sense of safety. She said that a 10-year-old student made loud intimate sounds when she turned to the board. In her view, girls are becoming increasingly accustomed to sexist language from their classmates, which harms learning.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Response from schools and experts
Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, ANROWS, expressed concern that misogynistic online content shapes the attitudes of boys and young men toward women and girls and may also be linked to violence against them.
Monash University published a guide for educators on the manosphere. Angelique Wan, executive director of the youth nonprofit Consent Labs, said that many teachers feel insufficiently prepared to discuss manosphere rhetoric with students. The organization holds school sessions on the manosphere, pornography, and gender stereotypes.
Andy Mison, president of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association, said that the manosphere’s influence in classrooms had increased after the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed that most students behave appropriately and that most classrooms are safe. At the same time, he said that responding to negative online influence should not be the responsibility of schools alone: families, authorities, and the community should also be involved. The names Jess and Kirsty were changed in the source material.
