16 h. ago The Adolescence alarm: ‘If there’s a problem with boys’ behaviour, it’s because of us’

Millions have been gripped by a story of toxic masculinity in children that’s been called a ‘wake-up call’. But is it a moral panic, and how should we respond?There is a scene in the Netflix super hit Adolescence, about an elfin-faced 13-year-old boy who stabs to death a female schoolmate, motivated by a fear and loathing of women apparently fuelled by his exposures online, that is not – relatively speaking– very tense.The lead investigator, DI Luke Bascombe, played by Ashley Walters, is roaming the children’s bleak, grey high school searching for clues as to the murder weapon and the motive. His own son, Adam (Amari Bacchus), a gangly, bullied senior, takes his father aside into a room of stacked chairs and blue-tinged light. He wants to help him understand. Continue reading...

Events

67 h. ago Netflix viewers concerned everyone's 'missing the point' of Stephen Graham's Adolescence

Netflix's four-part mini-series, penned by actor Stephen Graham and writer Jack Thorne, takes a detailed look into the aftermath of a teenage girl's murder and the effects of toxic masculinity on young boys

Events

4 d. ago Video games can’t escape their role in the radicalisation of young men | Keith Stuart

Those of us who spend our lives gaming can no longer deny knowledge that our online communities are awash with disturbing hate speech and violent rhetoricThere is a lot of attention on young men and toxic masculinity at the moment. It’s about time. The devastating Netflix drama Adolescence, about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a girl after being radicalised by the online manosphere, has drawn attention to the problem through the sheer force of its brilliant writing and a blistering lead performance from teenager Owen Cooper. This week, former England football manager Gareth Southgate gave a speech about the state of boyhood in the UK, specifically about how young men, lacking moral mentors, are turning to gambling and video gaming, thereby disconnecting from society and immersing themselves in predominantly male online communities where misogyny and racism are often rife. There has been some kickback in the gaming press to the idea that games have provided a less-than-ideal ...

Politics

7 d. ago 'The leaders Gareth Southgate called for are already fighting society's toxic masculinity'

While it is easy to lose hope, this country has exemplars changing and saving lives

Politics

9 d. ago The Guardian view on modern masculinity: boys need mentors, not marketers | Editorial

Sir Gareth Southgate is right to warn that social media is trapping boys in toxic ideals. It’s a crisis demanding real-world solutionsBoys used to be raised by their parents. Now, as they grow up, an increasing number are coming under the influence of toxic online figures who push a hollow, misogynistic version of masculinity. This isn’t helping their character or their relationships. But it does work for a digital world where worth is measured in money, status and appearance. Girls have long seen their mental health suffer from social media comparisons and phone addiction. But that doesn’t make it any less troubling now that boys are being similarly affected.In his Richard Dimbleby lecture for the BBC, Sir Gareth Southgate made a cogent case that young men are being failed by modern society – not just by absent role models, but by a culture that doesn’t acknowledge failure and vulnerability while exposing them to damaging digital influences. Without re...

Politics

2 w. ago This Morning's Ashley James reveals motherhood 'struggle' and fears for son over 'toxic masculinity'

This Morning star Ashley James has opened up about her motherhood journey and revealed that she understands how parents are struggle due to workload and the system

Events

3 w. ago The Oscars were an exhilarating triumph for Anora and newly minted star Mikey Madison

Political metaphors were the dark undercurrent in this year’s crop, from Anora’s toxic masculinity to the revolutionary defiance of I’m Still HereSo, as Conan O’Brien pointed out, the Oscars went to a film about someone standing up to a Russian, and maybe recent events mean we have to probe its political metaphor even further. Sean Baker’s cacophonous, crazy non-love story Anora won five Academy Awards including best actress for that rather amazing and newly born star Mikey Madison, playing the tough, smart, beautiful New York lap dancer who gets a Vegas quickie marriage to the spoilt and pusillanimous son of a Russian oligarch and then has to stand up to his parents. Madison embodies Anora’s complex courage: not exactly romantic, not exactly in love, but certainly believing in the wedding contract, in her own status as a legally married woman and in the possibility of happiness which is no more remote for her than for anyone else. She is the thoroughly modern, thoroughly 21st-centu...

Politics

3 w. ago The truth about young men and sex: ‘We go along with things we’re uncomfortable with’

Do they really think about it every seven seconds? Are they only after one-night stands? We asked 30 men to bare all – their answers may surprise youThere’s a stereotype about young men and sex. I see it play out across social media, and over wine-fuelled chats with my friends: that men only want one thing, that they all cheat and that, ultimately, they’re selfish in bed. It’s an idea that has been fuelled by the rise of toxic masculinity influencers such as Andrew Tate, who discuss sex as something they are “owed” and encourage other men to think similarly.For the past eight years, I’ve worked at Cosmopolitan magazine, speaking to millennial and gen-Z women about their love lives, and I can’t deny that there is some truth to the stereotype. But when I decided to have candid (and at times incredibly awkward) conversations with men in their 20s about their sex lives, another story emerged: one of insecurity, hidden and misunderstood sexualities, and often a deeper need for ...

Politics