Elliot Page is not the role model boys need

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women are now better at being men than men themselves. At least, that’s the message from Streatham Wells Primary, where pupils are being taught that Hollywood actress Elliot Page — formerly Ellen — is a shining example of positive masculinity.

Page, who underwent a double mastectomy and now identifies as a man, is, according to headteacher Sarah Wordlaw, the embodiment of what boys should aspire to be. “We need to encourage empathy, kindness, showing emotions,” she said, “listening to alternative points of view, and developing emotional literacy.”

All admirable qualities. But let’s be honest: these are traits traditionally associated with females — and more specifically, with the well-behaved girls every teacher quietly dreams of cloning. Meanwhile, behaviours more typical among boys — risk-taking, competitiveness, self-assertion — are largely written off as “challenging” or worse, “toxic”. And while boys are being told off, their views on sex and power are being quietly shaped elsewhere. Namely, by the porn-saturated culture they’re learning from long before puberty.

Tellingly, most of the role models held up for children in schools like Streatham Wells Primary — whether boys or girls — are chosen because they defy sex stereotypes. This began as part of a feminist push to liberate boys and girls from the shackles of sex roles. But somewhere along the line, the aim became less about expanding opportunity and more about engineering conformity.'