Understanding the manosphere: what can educators do about it?

The manosphere is no longer confined to the fringes of the internet. Its ideas are reaching young people through social media, gaming, friendship networks and popular online culture – and schools, and educators, are increasingly on the front line.

How do boys and young men find their way into the manosphere? Why can its messages be so compelling? And, most importantly, what can educators, parents, and policymakers do about it?

These were the questions explored by Professor Michael Flood in the University of Melbourne Faculty of Education’s latest Dean’s Lecture, Understanding the Manosphere: Risks, Reach and Responses.

Watch the recording of Understanding the Manosphere: Risks, Reach and Responses

Drawing on more than 30 years of research and engagement, Professor Flood unpacked the diverse online ecosystem of communities, influencers and platforms that make up the manosphere.

The manosphere is not simply an online phenomenon. Its influence can spill into classrooms, relationships and young people’s understanding of themselves and others.

Why are young people drawn in?

Professor Flood challenged the idea that young people simply stumble into the manosphere because they are looking for misogynistic content.

The pathways can be much more ordinary.

Young people may enter through gaming, sport, fitness, entertainment or other online communities. They may encounter manosphere influencers through recommendation algorithms. They may be looking for advice about relationships, masculinity, sex or social status, or they may be experiencing loneliness, rejection, insecurity or a sense that they are failing to live up to expectations of what it means to be a man.

The manosphere can offer seemingly simple answers to complex problems along with a sense of belonging and identity.

“Speak to pain,” Professor Flood urged the packed audience.

For him, this is central to an effective response. Acknowledging the genuine difficulties experienced by some young men does not mean accepting misogynistic explanations for those experiences.

Instead, educators and communities need to listen, understand what young people are looking for, challenge harmful ideas and offer something better.

The problem is bigger than the internet

Professor Flood highlighted evidence linking exposure to manosphere content with increased sexist and misogynistic attitudes, as well as concerns from educators about sexual harassment, intimidation and harmful gender norms among young people.

He also emphasised the harm to boys and men themselves, including rigid expectations around masculinity, poor mental health, isolation and reluctance to seek help.

The manosphere is becoming increasingly mainstream, commercialised and connected to wider political and cultural movements.

Schools can be part of the solution

For the Faculty of Education, one of the most important questions is what happens in schools.

Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Marek Tesar, said schools are increasingly important sites for responding to the influence of the manosphere.

“Schools are critical sites of prevention,” Professor Tesar said.

This means giving students the literacy to recognise manipulation and misinformation, challenge gender stereotypes and navigate online cultures to build healthier forms of masculinity and relationships.

“This requires creating space for those meaningful conversations about respect, power, emotions, and belonging.”

And it means helping young people develop the empathy, conflict-resolution skills and sense of belonging that can provide alternatives to the messages offered by the manosphere.

The Faculty’s research and teaching already play an important role in this work, including research into misogynistic attitudes, online radicalisation and youth extremism, alongside the Youth Research Centre’s work on respectful relationships education.

Professor Flood emphasised that teachers should not be expected to tackle the issue alone. School leaders, wellbeing teams, colleagues, families and specialist services all have a role in creating a consistent response.

Importantly, that response should not begin by assuming every boy who encounters manosphere content is becoming radicalised. Some young people may be “tourists” rather than committed participants.

The goal is to intervene early, build trust and give young people the tools to question what they encounter.

Building something better

Ultimately, Professor Flood’s message was not simply about confronting the manosphere. It was about what we build in its place.

If young people are searching for belonging, purpose, connection, answers and a sense of identity, schools and communities need to offer positive alternatives.

That means creating spaces where boys and young men can talk about loneliness, relationships, vulnerability and failure without shame. It means showing that masculinity can be associated with care, friendship, responsibility and respect – not dominance or control.

And it means engaging young people in meaningful conversations rather than simply telling them what to think.

The challenge is significant. But Professor Flood ended with a message of possibility.

“The manosphere is not inevitable.”

Nor, he said, is it "invincible".

“It's a social phenomenon with social causes and social solutions. The task is to strengthen the relationships, the institutions and the culture that offer compelling positive alternatives to that.”

Watch the recording of Understanding the Manosphere: Risks, Reach and Responses