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'Commentator Alex Deane has criticised Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service's participation in a nail-painting campaign as "performative nonsense" that fails to address real issues.

The initiative, organised by charity Hard as Nails, saw male firefighters paint their nails to encourage discussion about gender identity and toxic masculinity.

Speaking to GB News, he said: "I think you could speak about this for hours, to be honest with you, but I think it's more misogyny than toxic masculinity.'

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'Unless they make a TV drama about an issue, it doesn’t exist. That is where we are now. It took Mr Bates vs The Post Office for people to gasp: “But this was horrendous!”, for the prime minister to announce new legislation to exonerate wrongly convicted subpostmasters and former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells to have her CBE withdrawn. It took Baby Reindeer for us all to realise that, yes, women stalk men too! And maybe it’s time we started taking it seriously?

Then there’s the hit new Netflix show Adolescence, which shines a light on the corrosive impact of social media and misogynistic influencers on teenage boys – and has taken this phenomenon to an almost comedic level. Like coma patients, who have awoken from a 25-year slumber, we’re all suddenly up in arms about this thing called “The Internet”. “These boys who spend their days and nights immersed in a toxic online culture,” came the mass musings. “What if it’s not good for them?”'

Video here.

'Join Tom and Ulysses Slaughter for a powerful discussion on false allegations. Ulysses shares his remarkable experience with lies, deception, and the devastating consequences of a false a​llegation. Watch a clip of his initial encounter with police.'

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'The answer to male pain isn’t masculinity, but a new political order, where no man or woman is an automaton or object. As analysts like Reeves have argued, it is possible to champion men and boys without sacrificing women and girls to the right-wing. Yet some liberals would rather appease violent masculinity than defeat it. Newsom didn’t just interview Kirk; he praised the far-right activist, and attacked trans athletes and “woke culture” in the same episode. Democrats like him agree that wokeness has gone too far, that trans rights and immigration are destabilizing the country and alienating male voters. In searching for common ground with Trump, they align themselves with the same reactionary forces that sell men hierarchy and call it freedom. Join us, the right-wing says, and you can use slurs. But the liberty to insult others is an ersatz version of the real thing.'

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'This experience came to mind when I saw the news yesterday that “anti-misogyny lessons” may be on their way to British schools, prompted at least in part by the new Netflix series Adolescence, which has dominated the national conversation over the last week. Questions have been asked in Parliament about the rise of influencers who push “toxic masculinity” and encourage “incels” to resent and despise women.

It is clear that there is a problem with many teenage boys in Britain feeling alienated from mainstream society, or coming to believe that it is rigged against them. The deeper question is what ought to be done about this, beyond well-meaning moralism. Public figures talk about “reaching out” to young men; or providing better role models, as former England football manager Gareth Southgate proposed recently; or correcting their allegedly problematic views. But there is a striking vacuum at the heart of this discourse. No one seems genuinely interested in addressing the material concerns at the heart of young male ennui.

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'Proponents of the first idea want investment in youth centres and mentoring programmes, and to encourage more men into teaching. These notions have much merit, and would of course be good on their own terms. But as a solution to the problem of misogyny among radicalised schoolboys, I lean more towards the ideas offered by the second school of thought: getting them away from their smartphones.'

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'The writer of the Netflix drama Adolescence has suggested that children should be denied access to social media to protect them from toxic ideas online.

Jack Thorne, together with actor Stephen Graham, created the drama series about 13-year-old boy Jamie, who is accused of murdering a girl at his school.

The series tackles themes of bullying, incel culture – incel is short for involuntary celibacy – and navigating social media as a young person.

Bristol-born Mr Thorne said: "We do believe perhaps the answer to this is in parliament and legislating – and taking kids away from their phones in school and taking kids away from social media altogether."'

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'Schools are set to give students anti-misogyny lessons in the wake of hit Netflix TV show Adolescence about a teen boy who murders a female classmate.

The classes form part of the government's new relationships, health and sex education (RHSE) guidance, which will be introduced before the end of the academic year.

It comes after Sir Keir Starmer revealed at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday that he was watching the mini-series with his two teenagers - and that he backs the show creators' calls for it to be shown in parliament and schools.

The four-episode programme follows the Miller family, whose lives are torn apart when their 13-year-old son Jamie is arrested for stabbing a female classmate to death after being influenced by online misogyny.

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'Yet while I applaud the quality of Philip Barantini’s drama, and the importance of the issues it explores, I can’t help but feel that this is another cultural work that demonises young boys. Jamie is an angry young man, and I don’t mean that in the artistic sense: he has been radicalised by online propaganda, become susceptible to the rise of incel culture, has had his view of women tainted by easy-to-access pornography. The boy, like so many 13-year-olds, is also crippled by a lack of self-esteem.

The columns I have read this week have been along the lines of “why every parent should watch Adolescence”; and yes, it does serve as an effective warning to protect and monitor your child. But we need to make something very clear: Jamie is no everyboy.'

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'Young men are being drawn to toxic masculinity because schools are not “boy-positive”, a report has claimed.

Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) has found men are being left behind in society because they underachieve at school.

It estimated that about half a million men have missed out on higher education in the past decade.

The report warns of the risk that these “undereducated men” will be driven towards “political extremes” if male underachievement in schools is not resolved.

It comes as the Netflix series Adolescence receives critical acclaim for its plot, which centres on a boy, 13, who is arrested for stabbing a teenage girl after being “indoctrinated” by misogynist influencers.'

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'Parents should consider delaying access to smartphones for their children due to the “alarming trend” of alpha-male influencers promoting toxic masculinity among boys online, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.

He was speaking at an event in his hometown of Greystones, Co Wicklow, where all eight primary schools and parents' associations have agreed a “no smartphone voluntary code”.

“The Conor McGregors, the Andrew Tates – these are figures that exploit insecurities and reinforce outdated and dangerous narratives,” he told a gathering of principals, teachers and parents.

“If we don’t get on top of this, the result is a generation of boys who struggle to form healthy relationships, who are less emotionally resilient, and who are at risk of internalising damaging ideas about gender and identity.”'

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'Four-part British drama 'Adolescence' debuted last week on Netflix to wide-spread acclaim. It follows the events after a 13-year-old boy murders a girl in his school year. Each episode is a one-take insight into different aspects of the murder’s fall-out: from the initial arrest, to the investigation at a school, a psychological assessment of the boy, and his parents’ response.

Hanging over the drama is the question of how a culture of toxic masculinity has led to the tragedy. Particularly in the school episode, the influence of male content creators like Andrew Tate on young boys is highlighted as a dangerous radicalising force in British society.

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'Dozens of Labour MPs have joined forces in an effort to steer young men away from “toxic influencers” and the manosphere with positive messages about fatherhood and the promise of better paternity rights, the Guardian has learned.

The new group of predominantly male MPs, many with seats in “red wall” constituencies, are urging Labour to speak to men directly, warning that by “leaving a void” they are allowing figures on the right to dominate the discourse around masculinity.

It comes as a report called for a “boy-positive” learning environment to be developed in schools, while on Wednesday the former England manager Gareth Southgate spoke of his fear that “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers” were taking the place of traditional father figures in society.

The Hepi report calls on the government to develop a strategy for men’s education, overseen by a new minister for men and boys.'

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'Iceland’s minister for children has abruptly resigned after shockingly admitting she had a baby more than 30 years ago with a 16-year-old boy — who ended up coughing up child support.

Ásthildur Lóa Thórsdóttir fessed up to the secret relationship, which started when she was a 22-year-old counsellor at the church group the teen attended, on Thursday after Icelandic news outlet RUV was tipped off about the saga.

The 58-year-old politician, who is a member of the country’s center-left People’s Party, confessed that she gave birth to the teen’s baby when she was 23 — and that the boy was in the birthing suite during her labor.

The teen, identified as Eirík Ásmundsson, even paid child support for the next 18 years — despite Thórsdóttir allegedly denying him frequent access to their child after she met and went on to marry her husband, according to the outlet.

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'The International Council for Men and Boys (ICMB) proudly announces the launch of the New York Declaration for Men and Boys, a significant document addressing crucial global issues impacting males. Released on the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which focused on women and girls, this declaration marks a pivotal moment. It emphasizes the need for genuine equality by highlighting the perspectives and challenges faced by boys and men.

You can read the declaration below, or follow this link to the ICMB web site. Many thanks to both Ed Bartlett and Larry DeMarco for their leadership on this important document.

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