ABC Compass Report Says Manosphere Content Fuels Misogyny, Intimidation In Australian Schools

A report aired on ABC TV’s Compass describes how misogyny tied to “manosphere” content is showing up inside Australian schools, with teachers recounting intimidation, sexualisation and derogatory language from students as young as kindergarten.

“When Holly Cooper entered teaching after a successful career as a political advisor, she was prepared for typical adolescent behaviour”

ABC

Holly Cooper, who entered teaching after a successful career as a political advisor, told Compass she was prepared for “typical adolescent behaviour,” including that she was “kind of used to … teenage boys being gross or, you know, the odd comment.”

ABC

But in the first class she ever took, she said a male student began filming her with his phone, and she recalled, “I had no idea what to do about it.”

Cooper said that when she asked a student for their phone, “they’ll generally say, 'No, I'm not doing it'.”

She added, “They will absolutely assert their dominance. Once the kids smell fear, then you're kind of done for.”

The ABC account also includes Meg, who has been teaching for more than a decade, saying she was called a c***, a f***ing bitch and a slut by primary school-aged students.

Other teachers speaking on the condition of anonymity told Compass that a year 9 boy did a creative writing exercise that “basically described an act of gang rape towards me,” and that when she was “very heavily pregnant,” male students “would get scissors and pretend to faux stab me.”

In another account, a teacher said a boy went to the bathroom and a female student later told her, “Miss, he's in the toilet wanking over you.”

The ABC’s Compass report links the classroom accounts to a rise in misogynistic material on social media, describing how studies worldwide show teenage boys are being recommended “manosphere” content whether they search for it or not.

NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner Hannah Tonkin told Compass that “It doesn't take long for a teenage boy who's online, who might be doing innocuous searches about sport or fitness … [to be] bombarded with messaging about how a return to traditional masculinity and traditional gender norms is the answer to their problems.”

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Tonkin said the messaging pushes “limited, archaic beliefs,” arguing “that men need to be tough, dominant and aggressive, that they can't show any emotion or vulnerability, and that this is the way to succeed in life.”

The report also quotes Tonkin describing a narrative that “There's often a narrative about men being under attack or feminism being to blame,” and she said “This narrative of victimhood or grievance can be quite appealing if you're a young man who's feeling disenfranchised or alienated.”

The ABC account then moves from policy framing to personal experience through a 26-year-old named Jefferson, who said he “scoured the internet for advice on how to gain confidence, particularly in the dating realm.”

Jefferson recalled, “I was very self-conscious about body image, the way people thought about me, the way I represented myself,” and he said, “I think when you're not happy with that, you look for answers.”

He described how the content started “very simple, very innocent, very objectively helpful: clean your room, go to the gym, work out, eat healthy,” before algorithms led him to “darker terrain.”

In Jefferson’s telling, the shift was that his dating difficulties became “women's fault,” and he said the content affected how he viewed and interacted with the opposite sex.

Jefferson’s account in the ABC report describes how the “manosphere” rabbit hole changed his internal judgments and his relationships, even as he initially believed the influencers were helping.

“Last night, Hijacking Adolescence aired on the ABC’s Compass, taking a deep-dive into the world of social media misogyny and its effect on boys, young men and the people around them”

Monash Lens

He said the content began with advice like “clean your room, go to the gym, work out, eat healthy,” and then moved toward “how to tell if a girl is into you.”

He recalled that “Soon, the algorithms led him into darker terrain, one where his dating difficulties suddenly became "women's fault".”

Jefferson said this content affected how he viewed and interacted with the opposite sex, describing a contradiction where he could feel more confident while also feeling worse about himself.

“I would both be more confident with women, but at the same time still feel really shit about myself,” he told Compass.

He described how the beliefs disrupted his ability to read relationships, saying, “[There were] times where someone was just a friend and I would think that they were fully in love with me, and it caused a lot of relationships to break down.”

Jefferson also described a harsh self-evaluation tied to rejection, saying, “If you get rejected, then you're, like, worthless.”

He said the content framed rejection as proof of personal inadequacy, adding, “If women don't want you, [you're told], 'You are a beta. You are not manly enough. You're too much of a nice guy.'”

The ABC report then turns to a counterweight in Jefferson’s life: he said he maintained a strong relationship with his sister during the period.

He credited her with helping him climb out of the rabbit hole, saying, “I used to go to her for dating advice, and I'd say things [like], 'Maybe I should just be a little more mean?'

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