This week is a slightly bigger one as we tackle a particularly pertinent issue right now. In the online space, masculinity has been undergoing some new constructions or reconstructions. Some of the ideas are new, others are a reintroduction of very old, even stoic ideas, but much of it is confused and even dangerous. It would seem that over the last few years, a reduction in positive talk about masculinity has left a gap, and there are certain voices that have emerged to fill that gap. These voices have the ears of many of the young men in our schools.

A few months ago I spoke to Dr Stephanie Wescott, a lecturer at Monash University in the faculty of education, also previously a school teacher. Towards the end of 2023, Stephanie and her research team made national headlines in Australia due to the research paper they produced. The study showed that there is growing visibility of online ‘manfluencers’ who espouse extreme masculine ideals and share them with their audiences of boys and young men.

Link to Stephanie's study:

https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/the-problem-of-anti-feminist-manfluencer-andrew-tate-in-australia

Our second conversation this week, I also had a chance to chat with Daniel Principe, a youth advocate an educator who has spoken to over 60,000 students across Australia. He’s passionate about telling a better story for our young men and offering a positive vision for what being a man could be. We talk a lot about the effects of porn, but also talking about what positive, respectful relationships could look like.

Dan's website:

https://www.danielprincipe.com.au