Under the ‘manfluence’: resources on how to respond to sexist kids and students

Our recent webinar, Malevolent Influence: Schools and the Shadow of Andrew Tate featuring journalist Anna Krien and feminist researcher Dr Stephanie Wescott, highlighted the degree to which the sexist and misogynist ideas of the ‘manosphere’ have infiltrated our classrooms and homes.

It is difficult to know how to respond when the boys and young men in our lives start parroting the harmful and dangerous ideas of Andrew Tate or Jordan Petersen at us, or to their peers.

Thankfully, there are many great minds working to provide parents and teachers with realistic, practical advice on how best to respond. Here are just some of them.

The Unteachables

FOR TEACHERS

Claire English is an educator and classroom management specialist who has recently taken a particular focus on misogyny in the classroom and how to address it. She has created a guide with step-by-step advice and also discusses the issue in the latest episode of her The Unteachables podcast #61: ‘Make me a sandwich’.

Podcast

Guide

The Man Cave

FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS

The Man Cave is a preventative mental health and emotional intelligence charity that delivers programs about toxic masculinity in schools. In 2023, they partnered with Swinburne University to conduct research into the influence of Andrew Tate. It is a great overview of who he is, why he may (or may not) resonate with boys, and how we can start to talk to them about it.

Research Paper

Website

Dr Naomi Barnes

FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS

Dr Naomi Barnes is a senior lecturer at QUT and is interested in how crisis influences education politics, specifically the effect of moral panics. Drawing from her research, she has developed a set of guidelines for how to talk to boys about figures like Andrew Tate. The guidelines were extrapolated from a QUT panel that she spoke on in 2023 Talking to boys and young men about Andrew Tate and the manosphere.

Guidelines

Panel Talk

Fightback

FOR TEACHERS

Fightback: Addressing sexism in Australian Schools is a three unit curriculum written by the Fitzroy High School Feminist Collective in Melbourne. Despite being written in 2014, Fightback is still relevant to the sexist and misogynistic views being expressed in classrooms today.

Resource

These are just a few educational resources that have come across our desk at the Victorian Women’s Trust. What would you add to the list? Email your suggestions to rachael.imam@vwt.org.au


Rachael is part of the communications team at VWT, and has to pinch herself sometimes that she gets to extend her feminism into her work. She is always looking for new ways to connect people, make them laugh and help them think. If you need her, she’ll likely be playing with her kids, at the movies, or stopping to pat a dog.

Read next

ADHD awareness:

ADHD awareness: "I have always felt odd in the world and didn’t know why" 

Blog

"Everyone has a different experience of ADHD and until now, I have never had anyone to talk to about how my brain functions"

Read more
‘Miss, what do you think of Andrew Tate?’: The problem of widespread misogyny and sexism in Australian classrooms 

‘Miss, what do you think of Andrew Tate?’: The problem of widespread misogyny and sexism in Australian classrooms 

Blog

Feminist researcher Dr Stephanie Wescott explains how female teachers navigate the influence of figures like Andrew Tate on their students, revealing the breaking point for some educators.

Stephanie Wescott, Monash University Read more
11 must hear feminist podcasts

11 must hear feminist podcasts

Blog

In need of feminist inspiration? Check out this list of essential feminist podcasts from all around the world.

Sanduni Hewa Katupothage Read more