Misogyny in the manosphere

18 November 2025

It is widely established by a growing body of international research that the manosphere (a collection of online forums promoting masculinity and misogyny and opposing feminism) is shaping classroom dynamics and relationships between boys, young men and their peers.

Australian teachers were the first to signal the emergence of the problem in research conducted (by Westcott and Roberts) in 2023, and the first to be published globally; indicating concerns at escalating gendered violence, sexism and misogyny in their classrooms.

While we know that misogyny and sexism have always existed in school settings, teachers around the world uniformly report that these behaviours are escalating, becoming more frequent and more severe.

Manosphere ideologies aren’t always easy to identify, but their effects on relationships between boys, teachers and peers can be devastating. Manosphere communities tend to emphasise a range of harmful ideas around gender, relationships, wealth and body image, and young people who consume this content are at risk of developing unhealthy attitudes towards relationships, women and girls, as well as a distorted view of society and reality.

Underpinning these ideas is a broader worldview that society is organised to prioritise women’s interests while men are disposable as providers, soldiers or workers. A central idea is that “taking the red pill” reveals the truth about these dynamics, encouraging men to adopt self-improvement in fitness, money and dominance as the only path to success.

The overall tone often mixes resentment towards women and feminism, fatalism about the chances of average men in dating, and aspiration through self-discipline and personal growth, though usually framed in competitive or adversarial terms rather than cooperative ones.

Teachers are at the front line of being both exposed to and countering manosphere ideologies. This is a particularly challenging position, as often, women and gender-diverse teachers are both the target of the manosphere and the ones who encounter its harms.

Without significant support, recognition and policy reforms oriented towards responding in a way that is commensurate to the scale of the problem, we risk enabling the ongoing perpetuation of harm experienced by women and gender-diverse people in classrooms across Australia.

Despite the growing body of international evidence of manosphere-aggravated misogyny and sexism in education, in Australia we are missing the full picture of how widespread this problem is.

We are proud to be partnering with the AEU to deliver the first national survey of union members’ experiences of misogyny and sexism in Australian education settings, launching at this year’s AEU Federal Women’s Conference.

All education workers are entitled to a safe workplace and manosphere-related gendered violence, sexism and misogyny puts everyone at risk of harm.

By Dr Stephanie Wescott and Professor Steven Roberts

This article was originally published in the Australian Educator, Spring 2025