Safeguarding- Who you can speak to if you're concerned

Misogyny & Online Misogyny

Online misogyny is abuse or hatred towards women on the internet. Misogyny happens offline too, but the relative anonymity of the internet makes it easier for communities to form around hateful beliefs about women.

Internet personalities can use these communities to spread hate both online and offline. Influencers such as Andrew Tate have made headlines recently, giving them a platform to spread their message. 

Misogynistic ideas and language can impact all pupils in your school, and might:

• Convince some girls that they’re inferior to boys, that they don’t deserve better treatment, or negatively impact their self-worth
• Make some boys feel justified in harassing girls
• Influence boys to be less open about their feelings (an example of ‘toxic masculinity’)

Some people who believe in misogynistic ideologies might also reject trans women and girls, and be unaccepting of non-binary people.

Examples of misogynistic language

Most misogynistic language and ideas will focus on either directly or indirectly making women and girls feel inferior or dependent on men, such as that:

• Women belong to men
• Women don’t belong in the workplace or in positions of authority
• Women are lazy and/or useless
• Women are nothing more than sex objects
• Women are inherently evil or deceptive

However, other ideas and language directly affect men and boys, such as that ‘real men hide their feelings’.

How to Talk to your Children About Andrew Tate

https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/talk-children-andrew-tate-misogyny-online-safety-b1053749.html

INCEL's

The online subculture of INCELs (involuntarily celibate), involves a deeply misogynistic worldview which is promoted by individuals who blame women for their lack of sexual activity. Having emerged from online forums, the INCEL environment (known as the 'manosphere') is one of toxic masculinity, where misogyny, jealousy, entitlement, and fatalism are the driving forces. This subculture, promoted by social media influencers, is devoted to conveying a hatred of feminism and women, sometimes resulting in extremely violent consequences.

As today's INCEL influencers are experts at finding and recruiting young boys online, where they are groomed over computer headsets, in gaming strategy chatrooms, and via viral videos, it is important for all educational staff and parents to be equipped with the knowledge to challenge misogynistic attitudes and ensure that boys are enabled to recognise how damaging and pervasive gender stereotypes are to everyone in society.