The problem of anti-feminist ‘manfluencer’ Andrew Tate in Australian schools: women teachers’ experiences of resurgent male supremacy

ABSTRACT

There is growing visibility of online ‘manfluencers’ who espouse extreme masculine ideals and share them with their audiences of boys and young men. Taking this phenomenon as a launch-pad, we join the tradition of research that exposes sexism in schools and theorizes girls and women’s experiences of working within and against masculine hegemony. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 30 women teachers in Australia, we suggest the sexism identified in early research endures in schools today, resurrected in part by the ubiquity and influence of one specific misogynist ‘manfluencer’, Andrew Tate. Employing Connell’s hegemonic masculinity, we suggest boys’ sexist practices towards their teachers and girl peers forms part of a strategy of gender inequality legitimization, stabilizing and reinvigorating a regressive ‘male supremacy’. These behaviours represent a backlash from boys and men who perceive a loss of gendered power in the post-#metoo era and have implications for girls and women in schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Andrew Tate
• hegemonic masculinity
• sexism
• teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Monash University.

Notes on contributors

Stephanie Wescott

Dr Stephanie Wescott is a lecturer in Humanities in Social Sciences in the School of Education, Culture and Society, Monash University Faculty of Education. Her research explores socio-political phenomena and their intersections with education policy and practice.

Steven Roberts

Steven Roberts is a professor of Education and Social Justice in the School of Education, Culture & Society at Monash University Faculty of Education. He is a sociologist and has published widely in the areas of Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities and Critical Youth Studies.

Xuenan Zhao

Xuenan Zhao is a PhD candidate in the School of Education, Culture and Society at Monash University Faculty of Education.