Many female teachers are reporting increased challenges to their authority and expertise with students echoing language from online influencers. It's linked to a growing online movement known as the Manosphere. These digital spaces promote anti-women ideas that don’t stay confined to the internet – they spill into classrooms, shaping how young people interact with their teachers and peers. In a recent podcast episode of Let’s talk teaching, Dr Stephanie Wescott and teacher Simone Nguyen join Associate Professor Rebecca Cooper to unpack what the Manosphere is, why it’s seeping into classrooms, and what schools can do in response. In this article, they share some of the key messages to come from that episode.
More and more female teachers are noticing a rise in gendered disrespect and overt challenges to their authority, often laced with misogynistic undertones. These aren’t isolated incidents, but symptoms of a broader cultural movement quietly shaping attitudes, particularly among boys.
At the centre of this change is the Manosphere; a growing online space of interconnected communities, personalities, and influencers whose messages often centre on anti-women sentiment. The most well-known figure in this space, Andrew Tate, is just the tip of the iceberg.
What is the Manosphere?
Wescott defines the manosphere as ‘a loosely connected collection of mostly men united around anti-women and anti-feminist sentiments and ideas’. Groups include Incels (involuntary celibates), pick-up artists, men's rights activists and Men going their own way (MGTOW).
While each group has unique ideologies, they share a desire to reclaim power they believe has been lost to feminism and to speak out against injustices perpetuated by the gender equality movement. Thanks to social media algorithms, these ideas are no longer fringe.
‘Once a social media platform identifies an account belonging to a young male between a certain age range, that account will receive manosphere content,’ Wescott says.
How it shows up in classrooms
Nguyen has taught for over a decade and seen firsthand how the rhetoric of the manosphere manifests in her classroom:
- Sexual harassment: From students mimicking sexual acts behind her back to inappropriate touching and verbal abuse
- Physical intimidation: No respect for physical boundaries
- Disrespect and gaslighting: Undermining her authority with subtle, emotionally manipulative comments
- Disbelief and blame: Reporting serious incidents often led to inaction or scrutiny of her own behaviour
- Dismissive culture: When male students echo influencers like Tate, female students feel unsafe and unsure of how to respond
Nguyen isn’t alone. ‘It’s consistent across women’s experiences,’ Wescott says. Tactics include using clever ways to try to aggravate women by questioning and undermining women's authority and expertise.
Why schools must respond
Schools are uniquely positioned to address these behaviours, not only to protect teachers, but to prevent long-term patterns of violence.
‘Some of the young men in our schools will go on to be perpetrators of domestic violence,’ Wescott states plainly. ‘We can identify early signs in teenage behaviour, and that’s exactly when intervention is most effective.’
Yet there’s still a reluctance to label this behaviour as misogynistic or violent when it comes from students. That needs to change.
What can teachers do?
Wescott and Nguyen agree: this isn’t a classroom management issue – it’s a whole-school cultural issue. But teachers can take important steps:
1. Listen and believe: When students disclose harassment, listen without judgement. ‘They’ve chosen you for a reason,’ Nguyen says. ‘They know you’ll hear them.’
2. Speak with your colleagues: Sharing experiences helps identify patterns. ‘Until I left my first school, I didn’t realise how many others had gone through the same thing,’ Nguyen reflects.
3. Follow up and escalate: Don’t let reports fall through the cracks. Follow through matters and help your colleagues follow these up. ‘Leadership must know that inaction has consequences,’ Nguyen says.
4. Support each other: Both Wescott and Nguyen stress the importance of allyship, especially from male colleagues. This means backing up female staff in meetings and decisions, avoiding dismissive responses like, ‘I’ve never had that issue’ and reinforcing authority without taking over.
The role of leadership
School leaders set the tone for the entire school culture. Their role is crucial in acknowledging and naming the problem, recognising patterns of gender-based harassment, supporting teachers consistently – especially early-career teachers and prioritising respectful relationships beyond one-off programs – one annual workshop, for example, is not a solution for an ongoing problem.
‘This isn’t something that can be fixed by inviting a speaker once a year,’ Wescott says. ‘It has to be embedded in the school’s DNA.’
Respectful relationships – an untapped resource
Victoria already has a framework for addressing these issues with the Respectful Relationships whole-school approach. This was mandated by the 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence, because it was recognised that schools are an important part of primary prevention work. However, implementation remains patchy, especially in Victoria.
Data suggests that in Victoria the ‘whole school approach’ has not been embraced by all schools. Wescott cites a lack of support and resourcing for training for teachers and a lack of clarity around what a whole school approach is as contributing factors.
‘A whole school approach means that there should be zero tolerance across the whole school from leadership down; in policy, in everyday language from the staffroom to the yard for gender-based violence is visible in policy, practice, and daily school life,’ she says.
‘Schools are both a place for intervention when there’s problematic behaviour, and prevention, so that young people don’t grow up and learn these lessons in more ways with more serious consequences. We can actually teach them now.’
A message for teachers who may experience this behaviour
Know that it’s not your fault and that you deserve to feel safe in your workplace.
You have a right to be heard and that you will be taken seriously.
If your school doesn’t support you, speak up and seek allies. And if you’re a teacher preparing pre-service educators, have these conversations early. Empower them with the tools and language to act.
Learn more about our pilot professional development program: Supporting secondary school teachers to address online spaces as pathways to gender-based violence for boys and men: Interventions to tackle the influence of the 'manosphere'
For more listen to our podcast Let’s talk teaching Season 3 Episode 1 to hear our full discussion on Navigating the Manosphere: When gender ideologies enter the classroom.
