Boys under spell of the manosphere are refusing to mix with girls in class

[IwantToRetire]

Manosphere content exposes them to negative attitudes towards women and girls – objectifying them, dehumanising them and portraying them as inferior.

The manosphere is a loose network of digital forums and groups claiming to address men’s struggles.

But it often promotes harmful views of women and girls, while misrepresenting men as the oppressed victims of feminism.

‘A really big change I’ve noticed is the separation between boys and girls,’ Alex says of the workshops.

‘10 years ago, if you said in a classroom, “Guys, let’s get into groups”, there would be mixed groups.

‘Now if you say it, the boys will be on one side, and the girls will be on one side, and when you actually encourage mixing these groups, they are out of their comfort zone.

‘But we see that as an important thing to do because it’s not about singling out any gender around this education – it is about shared attitudes, boys who can become potential perpetrators but also girls knowing what shouldn’t be normalised as attitudes and actually being able to have that conversation in mixed groups.

‘But I think that just seeing that separation is something which, especially over the last three years, is something which has really changed.

‘It’s the culture that they’re exposed to online, the fact that boys are consuming a certain type of media and listening to a certain type of influencer and I guess not being exposed to the views of girls and women.

‘Taking that a step further, we’ve had male students who refuse to take instruction from female members of staff. Like, literally stonewall, “I’m not listening, I can’t hear you, I can’t see you”.

‘And yet, a male voice would say something a minute later, and they would react.

‘So, that takes that kind of classroom separation to the next level, where it actually impacts their behaviour and how they engage with teaching staff.’

Full article at https://metro.co.uk/2026/09/02/boys-spell-manosphere-refusing-mix-girls-class-29512168/

You can take control

Say who the groups are

Students who wont take instruction or tuition from a woman should be expelled, just what would happen in the workplace

When I was teaching in the last century, I had a couple of eight year olds, on separate occasions, who when expected to sit next to a girl in assembly, would squirm and pull away with a loud 'eew' expression as if the girl had something worse than the dreaded lurgi. I don't know where it came from, no others in the group had that attitude. Words were had, and they didn't try the 'I don't have to listen to Miss' line.

‘10 years ago, if you said in a classroom, “Guys, let’s get into groups”, there would be mixed groups.
‘Now if you say it, the boys will be on one side, and the girls will be on one side, and when you actually encourage mixing these groups, they are out of their comfort zone.

I found that if you let the pupils choose their own groups that they would automatically gravitate to their friendship groups.

The answer has always been if you want mixed sex groups, put them in mixed sex groups.

Whilst I'm sure some of this is related to 'manosphere' content, when I was at school if we were asked to form groups they would have been sex segregated also: we did not want to be in groups with boys. Boys were annoying. Boys disrupted the work. Boys made stupid comments. Etc etc etc. In adult life if you asked me to form a group to do an activity I would still naturally look for other women to form the group with in almost all contexts.

There's an age when kids often go through an 'ewwww boys' or ewwwww girls' phase, isn't there?

I think it's different when older boys refuse to mix with girls and disrespect women teachers, because they are not just doing that childish ewwww thing, they are acting on a belief that girls and women are lesser creatures and are unworthy of respect as fellow human beings - even women teachers.

This goes to the very heart of sexism and misogyny: the mere fact of being female is enough to place women, even grown women, even professional women, even kind and supportive women teachers, even their own mothers, at the bottom of the human heap, ranking below even a 12 year old, cos when push comes to shove, he's a man and she's just a bitch. Probably a stupid bitch cos women's brains are smaller. So why should he listen to her?

Teaching union NASUWT has found that nearly one in four female teachers say they have been subject to misogyny from a pupil in the past year.
This is up from 22.2% last year, and up from less than one in five (17.4%) in 2023.
One teacher reported a student making naked images of her using artificial intelligence, while others reported being called misogynistic names regularly, and being meowed at by male students.
One in four female teachers subjected to misogyny amid 'masculinity crisis' in UK schools | LBC

"Boys have confronted me, shouted at me. Have had boys joke about raping girls in front of me and laughed about it when challenged."
Teachers union warns of 'masculinity crisis' brewing in schools

The Metro (whilst owned by the Daily Mail) has weekly articles from trans women claiming to be better feminists than any woman, promotion of trans ideology. But then runs articles like this pretending to support women. Very much like the "Mythical Misogyny" mentioned in another thread.

Yes I thought of the 'Mythical Misogyny' article too - this kind of behaviour by confused adolescent boys in schools is blown out of proportion, allegedly, and is not the same as Real Harm🙄

The thing is that pupils of both sexes will refuse to work with others, whether that person is male or female.

Sometimes pupils dislike others and don't want to work with them.

We have to be careful to make sure that we are tackling existing problems and not creating more.

Edited

And we have to make sure that we are tackling problems that come from the home and not just blame the manosphere for what are cultural issues.

Agree we have to separate out behaviours that have always existed and those driven by misogyny which results from online content being read.

Though neither is good.

The anecdote about kids not automatically mixing by sex is odd. I thought that was normal childhood development.

If it's "bad", why do we allow about 10 per cent of kids to go to single sex state schools?

I was surprised moving to London how common single sex schools are, not even necessarily selective or faith.

It's always been the case that many girls and boys choose not to work together in classrooms. Which is why good teachers use a range of strategies for choosing groups where the adult's in charge.
I'm not denying that there are issues with online /social media and its influence on the young - just pointing out that this issue's been around for a very long time.

If it's a phase of 'normal childhood development', fair enough; if it's boys sexually harassing and abusing girls and women teachers I think it's something else.
It bolsters the argument for single sex schools - at least girls don't have to deal with that kind of abuse, even though other girls are no saints, and can get on better with their education.

What is the point you’re trying to make @IwantToRetire ?
Part of boys/girls not mixing choosing to split based on biological sex is normal childhood development.
Personally I find the article is poorly written.

Why are there some on FWR who seemed obsessed about "making a point".

It is an article that refers to sexism and might for those who aren't always on their high horse, interested to read.

What is you problem? Can you only contribute in response to a point because otherwise you dont have anything to say.

No one on FWR has to join a thread where the topic is of no interest to them!

Not that I "know" this but suspect this is part of a (London) media response to the issue that has come to the surface about (some) boys growing up with negative attitudes towards women.

And rather than, for instance, doing an investigation, they have found a group (private company) offering a "solution" and just opted to to effectively promote their product.

But am aware, as contributors to FWR have made this point, and I know from FB friends they too have experienced it, that is some schools some women teachers have had real problems with boys whose attitudes are very dismissive.

I think it is likely that an underlying sexist attitude towards women teachers is now expressed in a different way because of the influence of social media etc..

As the info from NASUWT shows it is a concern for women teachers.

That in itself is worrying. Let alone the impact of that on girls in a class.

My point @IwantToRetire is that the article is so poorly written.
The topic is of interest and certainly deserving of research but this write up is a far cry from a scholarly write up.
IMHO part of the issue is a lack of genuine male role models and poor employment options.

So why didn't you just say that?!

@IwantToRetire i did
Personally I find the article is poorly written.

Having thought some more about this.
It is painting something with a very broad brush.
Both the article in the OP and the NASUWT one, are very happy to just point at Misogyny, but it could be any number of things, from pupil's cultural background, or home life, experience of teachers (is some of this down to schools getting rid of more experienced teachers), poor management (HoD, SLT, HT), what is the pastorial systems like? what support is there for pupils with a SEND.

Lets be honest as well in that it looks like diverse voices is a paid for resource/workshop/qualification.
and if their engaging resources are anything like in their header picture for PSHE/RSE is anything to go by, the 14 pupils do not very engaged at all.

My DD would also choose to go in a single sex group because the girls are aware that more and more boys have these attitudes and say horrible things.

He is not proposing as a solution that these ghastly boys are inflicted on the girls to "cure," them is he? Maybe men can sort out a problem for themselves for once. Once these boys are nicer and more respectful, then the mixing can be encouraged.

(I do have a nice, gentle DS who girls are fine to partner with, so I'm talking about these boys specifically, not all boys, and girls naturally becoming more wary)

very happy to just point at Misogyny
Why on earth would anybody be ' very happy' about anything related to the rape of girls at school, and abuse of women teachers

but it could be any number of things, from pupil's cultural background, or home life, experience of teachers (is some of this down to schools getting rid of more experienced teachers), poor management....

Why so many efforts to come up with 'explanations' other than sexism and misogyny for boys sexually harassing, abusing and even raping girls and women at school?
Inexperienced teachers? No amount of teaching experience enables you stopping your male pupils from sending dick picks to your female pupils, or protects you from a 15 year old boy who is bigger and stronger than you producing a knife and attempting to kill you.

Sexual assaults and even rapes at school are a major problem - it's not a new one, but it's reasonable to assume that the online normalisation of misogyny and sexism has made it worse in recent years. Girls have a right to an education free from fear.

School rape culture: ‘Her death could have been prevented’ - BBC Three
Attitudes towards women and girls in educational settings - Women and Equalities Committee
Schools: It's About Time things changed | End Violence Against Women

Sounds like you're saying that your son needs to sort the problem out, after all he is part of the same sex-class that is causing all of these problems.

When you start creating an industry where people are paid to fix a problem, there is no desire to actually fix the problem, or perhaps you need to start embellishing how much of an issue it is because your funding depends on it.

The Metro's series on this stuff has been poor. They routinely ignore VAWG when it's the wrong kind of perpetrator (like a man in a dress etc), platforming a lot of abusive trans women etc.

Happy to look for news reports later on or tomorrow, but there have been a number of reports of young teen boys trapping an equally young girl to meet one of them at an agreed spot, only to then find herself assaulted and raped by the group.

I dont just blame social media, but also the proliferation of porn.

Even that gross individual Russell Brand admitted that part of his behaviour, attitudes towards women was because from a young age he say his father's porn as it was left lying around.

And not forgetting the content of some songs etc..

So whilst on one level some would say women are now equal members of society, it is clear that if anything attitudes towards women are much worse.

And without excusing them, young boys growing up to day must see and hear things that for instance my brothers (who were sexist in attitudes) did not come into contact in their day to day lives. Though not sure what was said and passed round at school.