Teachers describe a deterioration in behaviour and attitudes that has proved to be fertile terrain for misogynistic influencers
“As soon as I mention feminism, you can feel the shift in the room; they’re shuffling in their seats.” Mike Nicholson holds workshops with teenage boys about the challenges of impending manhood. Standing up for the sisterhood, it seems, is the last thing on their minds.
When Nicholson says he is a feminist himself, “I can see them look at me, like, ‘I used to like you.’”
Once Nicholson, whose programme is called Progressive Masculinity, unpacks the fact that feminism means equal rights and opportunities for women, many of the boys with whom he works are won over.
“A lot of it is bred from misunderstanding and how the word is smeared,” he says.
But he is battling against what he calls a “dominance-based model” of masculinity. “These old-fashioned, regressive ideas are having a renaissance, through your masculinity influencers – your grifters, like Andrew Tate.”
Hm I don’t understand, could you explain? I had a different experience so it’s a bit difficult for me to get. My dad wasn’t around until a bit later and by then I didn’t respect him all that much. My mom raised me and told me to be nice with my dad and show him affection, otherwise I wouldn’t have interacted with him as much. I think I’ve taken on characteristics from my mom as a result. What does it look like for someone to have a man or masculine kind of person around?