Schooling Misogyny: Exposing and Eliminating the Influence of the Manosphere in Education Settings

This book confronts an escalating crisis unfolding in Australian schools: the influence of manosphere-aggravated misogyny and the everyday gendered violences it produces. Drawing on interviews and testimonies from over 130 teachers, it examines the legacy of the profound harms caused by Andrew Tate, and the ways that other manosphere groups and ideologies are shaping boys’ attitudes and behaviour towards women in schools.

The book argues that manosphere ideologies, amplified by powerful platform algorithms and galvanised by wider political shifts towards far-right populism and grievance-based politics, are contributing to misogynist radicalisation, increasingly surfacing in classrooms in boys' hostility towards gender equality, profound sexist behaviours and strengthened commitments to the idea of 'male supremacy.' Part I maps this terrain, centring teachers' accounts that show how misogynistic narratives take hold, how they reanimate long-standing patterns of sexism in schools and how institutions themselves often minimise or dismiss women educators’ experiences. Part II turns to solutions, offering practical, research-informed guidance for teachers, leaders and policymakers seeking to build safer school environments and enable effective violence prevention work to take place. It provides strategies for whole-school change along with complementary pedagogical tools, while grappling with the structural barriers that hinder progress towards just outcomes.

Accessible yet deeply grounded in data and theoretical analysis, Schooling Misogyny is both a diagnosis and a call to action―an essential resource for anyone committed to addressing and preventing gender-based violence and creating more transformative educational futures.

Stephanie Wescott, PhD, is Lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. Her research examines misogyny and gender-based violence in school settings.

Steven Roberts is Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Australia. He has published widely in the area of critical masculinities studies, including on risky drinking, sexting, the manosphere, computer gaming, emotionality, violence, domestic labour and paid care work.