04/04/2026
Male Misogyny in schools
50% of the world is female.
The other half were born of women.
Almost all have mothers.
You’d think that would be enough to guarantee safety, respect, and equality for women. But… it isn’t.
You may know I used to be a teacher. In my final year, I experienced something that has stayed with me. A Year 11 boy spat food at a Year 6 girl. When I challenged him, he refused to engage — tutting, turning his back, performing for his male peers. When I held the boundary, he simply walked away… until a male deputy intervened.
What struck me wasn’t just the behaviour — it was the response around it, particularly the lack of willingness by the deputy and the boy to address it properly. The male deputy also minimised it and me for wanting to address the whole situation too. It could have been a real chance to address this.
In over 30 years as a teacher, that stood out. I’d seen plenty of aggression from boys — but it wasn’t usually gendered. That was nearly a decade ago.
Things haven’t improved.
Recent reports are describing a growing “masculinity crisis” in UK schools. Misogynistic behaviour towards female teachers is rising. Many female teachers describe feeling demeaned, humiliated, even traumatised as a result of gendered aggression. Nearly a quarter of female teachers report experiencing misogyny from pupils in the past year alone.
This isn’t to be ignored because these boys grow up to be bigger, stronger, to be husbands, fathers, colleagues, bosses, have power in public places. The warnings are there and happening in classrooms, corridors, group chats, and everyday interactions for our young boys and young girls in our schools.
There are excellent courses now on challenging gender-based aggression — I’ve attended one and would recommend it. But honestly, some of the most important conversations don’t happen as strangers. The horse has bolted if we have to challenge unsafety in public for women…
The best change happen at home and through relationships when the men are still boys.
If you’re a mum, sister, aunt, grandma — you have more influence than you might think. Not through lectures, or unkindness but through relationship and discussion.
If you’re not sure how to start, here are three simple ways in:
• “What’s it like being a boy at school at the moment — what do people say about girls when adults aren’t around?”
• “Have you ever seen something said or shared about a girl that didn’t sit right with you?”
• “What do you think makes it hard for boys to call things out when they know it’s not okay?”
These aren’t about catching boys out or judging them. They’re about helping them think, notice, and speak — in a world where that isn’t always easy for them because most boys aren’t the problem.
But silence, pressure, and what gets normalised around them… that’s where things start to shift to a problem brewing.
And if we don’t open these conversations, something else will fill the gap — the “manosphere”, online voices, group chats, influencers — shaping beliefs in ways that can be hard to undo later.
We don’t need perfect conversations.
We just need to start them.
Misogynistic abuse of female staff is increasing, leaving teachers feeling ‘traumatised’ and ‘humiliated’
