\u201cThe schemes of anti-feminist, anti-women, sexist and misogynistic supremacist content are sort of subsumed within a broader discourse of self-improvement, entrepreneurial-ship, financial independence, dating advice, or health and fitness advice,\u201d says Lawson.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think men engage with that content because they\u2019re like, \u2018I want to be a sexist\u2019 or \u2018I want to be a misogynist,\u201d says Lawson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think they engage with that content, especially young men, because it speaks to a vulnerability or insecurity about themselves that they want to address. In a lot of ways, they\u2019re looking for mentorship, for guidance on how to address that insecurity,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s interesting to me how a space that ostensibly is about male self-improvement also then becomes this bastion of blaming women, blaming feminism, blaming contemporary gender relations for why things are the way that they are. I think that\u2019s how it gets it\u2019s hooks into people,\u201d Lawson says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fleisher says that Tate\u2019s content is conditional on treating women a certain way. \u201cOne of the big messages is you listen to my advice, and I\u2019ll make you a better man. That\u2019s one part of it, but then to be a better man you\u2019ve got to reject relationships,\u201d says Fleisher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to make sure women don\u2019t take advantage of you; you\u2019ve got to look out for number one. You\u2019ve got to treat women in a particular way. That sexist and misogynistic content is packaged in amongst bits that superficially, at face value, seem to be aligned with making your life better.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat kind of self-improvement discourse is shot through with anti-women, anti-feminist sentiment that I think really insidiously becomes normalised within the kind of content that these young men are engaging with.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The desire to search online for role models is why projects like G.G.s can make a difference by showing young men how diverse masculinity can be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If G.G. could control what viewers take away from his class project, it would be this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you always have this feeling in your heart or in your brain that tells you you\u2019re not enough, that what you\u2019re going through is not what other guys are going through and you should keep your mouth shut until everything is better, I hope that dies down.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
G.G. said that most of the young men he interviewed were going through the same thing but felt alone in their struggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI realised that all of us are going through almost the same thing…I know I’m just a speck in this universe. Very little,\u201d says G.G., \u201cbut if I could do one thing, it would just be to help guys realise that they\u2019re not the only ones going through whatever they\u2019re going through right now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giese offers a final warning, one she was given when interviewing for her book, Boys. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t create spaces to support young men, then the Andrew Tate\u2019s of the world will.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe schemes of anti-feminist, anti-women, sexist and misogynistic supremacist content are sort of subsumed within a broader discourse of self-improvement, entrepreneurial-ship, financial independence, dating advice, or health and fitness advice,\u201d says Lawson.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think men engage with that content because they\u2019re like, \u2018I want to be a sexist\u2019 or \u2018I want to be a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2,3],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-masculinity","tag-masculinity","tag-diverse"],"yoast_head":"\n