Government Introduces Measure to Address ‘Negative Aspects of Traditional Masculinity’

The Albanese government has outlined plans for an initiative to promote “healthy masculinity” across Australia.

The initiative will comprise a three-year trial project aimed at suppressing the influence of what it deems to be harmful messages on social media.

The ‘healthy masculinities trial project’ will receive $3.5 million to conduct presentations at schools, sporting clubs, and other community organisations to ostensibly educate adolescent boys on forming respectable relationships with both the opposite gender and their male peers.

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“It’s actually been reported that 25 percent of teenage boys in Australia are looking up to social media personalities who do perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes, often promoting aggression towards women but also aggression towards each other,” she said.

“This program is going to be a bit of a combination program. It is going to look at promoting good high-profile role models and pushing those onto social media. Role models that are promoting healthy relationships between young men but also towards women.”

Ms. Rishworth singled out a particular online personality.

“There are a lot of very high-profile people out there that actually can put forward an alternative to the likes of Andrew Tate.”

Andrew Tate is an Anglo-American influencer who rose to prominence in mid-2022 after disseminating self-help-style content aimed at young men on various social media platforms.

Mr. Tate made global headlines in December 2022 when he and his brother Tristan were arrested by Romanian authorities under suspicions of human trafficking. In June, the brothers were charged with rape and human trafficking, charges they deny.

Mr. Tate’s rapid rise to fame, along with many other influencers enjoying newfound prominence in the “manosphere,” has granted him ideological sway over a considerable amount of young men.

Social commentator Bettina Arndt has criticised the government’s trial program, claiming it will result in additional online censorship.

“The notion that feminists are going to be given even more power to control social media is most alarming,” Ms. Arndt told the Epoch Times.

Ms. Arndt also articulated her belief that what constitutes ‘toxic masculinity’ is contentious.