Summary
This response, submitted by Dr Alexandra Krendel and colleagues, addresses the House of Commons inquiry into misogyny in education. Drawing on years of collaborative research into the language and harms of the manosphere, the team evidences how online communities such as incels, pick-up artists, and men’s rights activists use dehumanising, denialist, and violent rhetoric to shape boys’ and young men’s attitudes. They highlight the mainstreaming of manosphere language and ideology—such as beliefs that women lie about sexual violence or biologically desire dominance—which is now mirrored in school environments through sexist classroom behaviour and challenges to teachers’ authority. The researchers document rising antifeminist sentiment in UK youth surveys, and the rapid exposure of adolescent boys to extreme content via algorithms on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. They recommend urgent action under the Online Safety Act to prevent manosphere content from spreading, calling for proactive moderation, improved filtering tools, and mandatory consultation with subject-matter experts. Within schools, they advocate for PSHE reforms that tackle both toxic and positive masculinities, encourage peer-led reflection on gender norms, and embed media literacy to counteract the normalisation of misogyny.
Authors
Dr Mark McGlashan, Lecturer in English Language, Linguistics at University of Liverpool
