Australian schools need urgent support to help combat shocking rates of sexism, intimidation, sexual harassment and disrespect towards female students and teachers.
And, according to two Monash University researchers, the 21 June news that controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will face trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, is likely to make the issue worse, instead of better.
That assertion, made by Professor Steven Roberts and Dr Stephanie Wescott from Monash Faculty of Education in Melbourne, is the result of their ongoing research on the subsequent radicalisation of boys by misogynist influencers in Australian schools. So far, they told EducationDaily, their findings reveal deeply troubling insights that show toxic attitudes and behaviours among boys are spreading.
But why do so many young men who see Andrew Tate as a role model reject the possibility of his guilt and instead suggest that he is the target of global forces working to undermine and silence him?
A response to shifting status quo
“Tate is a symptom of a broader issue related to a cultural narrative of the ‘crisis of masculinity’. It’s a cyclical narrative that dates back over 100 years, and rears its head periodically, usually at a time when the status quo shifts,” says Professor Roberts.
It happened, he says, when women started entering the labour market in large numbers in the 70s and 80s, and again when girls started to outperform boys academically in the late 80s and early 90s.
“The current manifestation is at least partly bound up with the post-#metoo moment. It’s a backlash to a perceived change that threatens men’s place atop the social and economic hierarchy, and speaks to – and amplifies – fears that boys and men are being left behind or losing out in some way. The reassertion of traditional, dominating forms of masculinity is promoted as a panacea for such imagined crises.”
Sharing the virtues of gender equity
To help counter the problem, Professor Roberts told EducationDaily he believes we have to work together and normalise and extol the virtues of social change in the direction of gender equity.
“It’s important to ensure women and girls are safe and respected but gender equality is good for everyone,” he says. “At the aggregate level, gender equality is better for the economy, it’s better for a society’s overall level of happiness, it destabilises boys’ and men’s attachment to harmful norms that are a risk to themselves and others, and helps boys and men live more emotionally enriched lives.”
In the United Kingdom, the recent official government directive to educators has been to ignore the Andrew Tate issue, with teachers there told not to discuss the former World Champion kickboxer and Big Brother contestant with pupils – despite a rising tide of alarming misogyny being reported in schools across the country, from boys as young as nine years old.
In response, many female-focused service providers said this plan of (non) attack led many to feel “frustrated that officials at the Department for Education (DfE) have been advising heads who reach out for help not to encourage discussion of Tate’s views in personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons, and are refusing to offer any training or resources”.
Education, training and policy needed to prevent further harm
Instead, say Professor Roberts and Dr Wescott, what’s needed is a substantial response through curriculum, education, training and policy to prevent further harm and to counter the influence of Tate and other misogynist social media influencers.
The growth of anti-feminist and misogynist figures generating online content has been brewing for years and as support for Tate and his ilk spreads across many international online communities, the hundreds of millions of views Tate’s social media profile attracts continues filling the social media feeds of teenage and pre-teen boys around the world.
For teachers – especially young female teachers – who are met with pro-Tate commentary from young men in their classrooms, Dr Wescott and Professor Roberts told EducationDaily there are a couple of ways to respond to this at a classroom level.
If boys indicate they want an open and respectful discussion, engage with them in a conversation around what healthy role models should be, and why men who have been charged with violent crimes are not aspirational figures. It could be useful to ask them what they find interesting or inspiring about Tate, and whether they are concerned about his criminal involvement (and if not, why not?).
If the classroom climate becomes toxic or disrespectful, say Professor Roberts and Dr Wescott, the response should be to seek support from school leadership; particularly if behaviour becomes aggressive or demeaning.
“If Tate is invoked as a provocation, or to bait or gaslight women and girls, this should be treated as a behavioural issue and responded to accordingly,” says Dr Wescott.
Professor Roberts agrees.
“We are strongly encouraging schools to develop school-wide responses to Andrew Tate, and to provide staff with training and support in responding to students’ questions about and attitudes towards him,” Dr Wescott says.
The researchers are keen to clarify that talking about toxic masculinity is not about saying all boys and men are the problem (although they are quick to point out that all boys and men could be part of the solution).
“It very specifically gives a vocabulary to highlight that there are some components and practices of masculinity that are problematic and dangerous. But, while pervasive, it is neither inevitable nor in the majority,” says Professor Roberts. “We don’t want to risk denying the scale problems and the breadth of people it impacts, but it’s important to point out that adherents to this type of ideology are typically a vocal significant minority, even at a time when that minority appears to be growing. This point is worth stressing because, if we celebrate and normalise a rejection of toxic masculinity we can gain the momentum we need to further combat the dangers of the ideology.”
As part of their collaborative research, interviews with women teachers illuminate the presence of rampant disrespect towards teachers, says Professor Roberts, with their study revealing sexual harassment of teachers and girls, as well as physical intimidation and blatant disregard for women, are increasingly common experiences for teachers in Australian schools.
It’s behaviour that is unsafe for the female students and teachers involved, but also disruptive to girls’ education.
Tate is a problem masked as a solution
Tate is also shaping boys’ perceptions of their worlds, with teachers noting that boys appear to view women as unfairly advantaged by socially progressive movements. Tate presents traditionalist masculinity as the solution men need to reclaim their power.
And although some observers had hoped his recent arrest may have been Tate’s downfall, Professor Roberts and Dr Wescott told EducationDaily the opposite is proving true and say schools need appropriate guidance and tools to deal with the impact of Tate supporters in both primary and secondary school communities.
“Our research indicates that many of Andrew Tate’s young followers are vulnerable to conspiratorial thinking around these recent charges and his arrest,” Dr Wescott says. “Tate directly incites his followers to believe in the existence of ‘The Matrix’ – an alleged global conspiracy controlled by the world’s ‘elite’ working to take down Tate as well as forms of ‘traditional’ masculinity that he promotes and encourages.”
With no uniform approach and no official acknowledgement of boys’ changing attitudes to women in Australian schools, the researchers believe female educators and students in schools who are being forced to grapple with increasingly problematic behaviour from some boys need urgent support – especially as his trial plays out to a legion of his defenders.
“Boys who identify Tate as a role model and source of motivation are quick to dismiss criminal culpability as part of this broader conspiracy,” says Dr Wescott. “It is likely that news of these charges will only reinforce these beliefs and embolden Tate’s young fans to believe that he is a victim rather than a perpetrator.”
