Spike in sexist incidents at Victorian schools linked to ‘male toxic influencer sh*t’

Teachers say a rise in sexist behaviour in the schoolyard is linked to the misogynistic views spouted by TikTok celebrity Andrew Tate.

A spike in sexually explicit incidents against female school students has been linked to teenage boys mimicking misogynistic attitudes from viral social media content.

Teachers at several exclusive Melbourne schools have told the Herald Sun there has been a rise in complaints from female students about sexist behaviour.

Sources at some of the state’s top-performing schools detailed complaints from schoolgirls, which included being slut shamed by groups of male peers and being discussed in a sexually violent manner.

Prominent gender equality advocates have slammed the “dangerous” TikTok videos that they say have real-world impacts for boys’ views of women and girls.

There has been a rise in complaints about sexist behaviour at some Victorian schools.

One 14-year-old female student at a school near Melbourne’s CBD discovered a group of boys were exchanging messages about having anal sex with her on Snapchat.

In pictures seen by the Herald Sun, male students joked about having group sex with a female peer.

Another group of boys engaged in a sexually violent chat about another girl on gaming app Discord.

Repeated complaints have been made against a string of male students, who attend the same all-boys high school.

Concern is growing that the sexually explicit messages were a “symptom” of widespread sexism after TikTok creator Andrew Tate went viral when videos of him were posted, in which he blamed rape victims for their attacks and described women as men’s property.

In what is legally defined as grooming, he said grown men dating 18-year-old girls was preferable because they were more impressionable.

TikTok creator Andrew Tate. Picture: TikTok

Teenage boys are mimicking Tate’s attitudes. Picture: TikTok

A teacher at an all girls school in the city’s inner suburbs said he believed the string of reports made against its brother school were directly caused by Tate’s videos.

“This sort of male toxic influencer sh*t is fuelling it … this term for sure” he said.

Miss Universe Australia Maria Thattil, who last year lashed a group of boys from Berwick’s Nossal High School for sexually degrading girls in an Instagram chat when she was accidentally added to, criticised social media outlets for scrapping much less damaging content while Tate’s videos remained online.

“The longer they (websites) take, the longer they support the platform of these people at the expense of women’s safety,” she said.

“They’re (boys) buying what these people are putting out there, where they’re objectifying women’s bodies and using misogynistic language, that glorify sexual violence.”

Miss Universe Australia Maria Thattil. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Chief executive of mental health charity the Man Cave Hunter Johnson said the trend was a “massive worry” that needed to be combated with positive male role models.

“They call his references ‘Tate-isms’. They’re literally using it as a social currency for banter, but also, disrespect,” he said.

“Often it is young men who feel like they’ve been ripped off, that they were entitled to attention, were entitled to, you know, particularly female attention, and they didn’t get it.”

Tate’s misogynistic content has gone viral.

Other social media users have slammed Tate’s toxic views.

Research by Our Watch found that a quarter of 12-24 year olds thought it was “pretty normal” for guys to pressure girls into sex.

A ‘healthy masculinity’ program is run in state schools by the Man Cave to teach boys aged between 12 and 16 years old about consensual sex and how to express their emotions in a healthy way.

Psychologist Collett Smart said it was dangerous for young children to consume misogynistic content online, particularly if they don’t have strong role models to counteract harmful information.

“Our teens need lots of messages on this, not in a one off conversation, but regularly throughout their growing years,” she said.

Male students at Nossal High School again came under fire in March this year after degrading women in a “sexually violent” social media group chat.