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.”

  • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It’s the same misunderstanding about ‘alpha wolves’, they believe that a powerful self-actualized person is one who acts like wolves driven to mental illness by captivity.

    So much of our media glorifies the ‘hypercompetent power broker’ image, the ‘great man’ concept of Napoleon’s image that in many circles if you do NOT idolize that radioactive image as a goal for self-transformation, you are considered irrelevant and weak.

    It’s all regressive, it’s all a response to stress and shrinking opportunity.

    Humankind only got to where we are now by cooperation, almost zero humans today are truly self-sufficient, yet these chucklefucks think the only worthy person is one who takes advantage of everyone around them to their own self-benefit.

    It is literally the polar opposite of what has lifted man out of naked apes in the savanna.

    ‘return to monke’ is a really terrifying meme if you understood the emotion it harnessed and the direction it flings it.

    • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      I agree with most of what you’re saying but would mention return to monke also refers to the system of capitalism most live under being a crushing weight that we wish we didn’t have to deal with anymore, it is somewhat alluring to return to a time where you just have to survive, rather then waves hands around whatever it is we do now.

      I don’t particularly agree with the sentiment, as I understand how much better off we are, even if capitalism is a soul crushing machine.

      • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        you may not accept it but ‘return to monke’ was stared by the Boogaloo Boys and if you know who they are you know why this is a problem.

        • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          Do you have any source for that? It sounds just like people who think pepe is a hate symbol…

          When in reality, it was just co-opted by the racists and the MSM decided it was then only a hate symbol.

          • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            That depends how comfortable you are with searching the darkweb. Some of their forums are still up.

            shitler co-opted a certain now worldwide hated symbol too, the hard right loves taking innocent things and staining them with blood.

            • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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              9 months ago

              OK, so some “dark web” source that you insist is definitely proof that they created return to monke, as opposed to the alternative on know your meme cataloging the first example?