The Project stars go on rant about 'toxic masculinity' infecting young Aussie men

Daily Mail​

24-04-2025

Stars of Channel 10's The Project have shared fears about the growing impact of toxic masculinity and 'manosphere' influencers like the notorious Andrew Tate.
Hosts of the panel show, including Waleed Aly and Georgie Tunny, aired their concerns during a segment on Thursday's show about the rise of online 'alpha male' culture and its impact on young men.
According to a new study conducted by the Movember Institute, influencers who spouted similar attitudes to Tate are causing more harm to Australian youths than previously thought.
The Project's report concluded that alpha male influencers were creating 'long-lasting and damaging effects [which has become] the norm.'
'I don't know what's more terrifying, the concept of being the parent to a young boy or a young girl who is navigating this world,' said Georgie during the segment.
'You are constantly being told be careful, you've got to protect yourself and [that] "men bad", '"boys bad" and they are the enemy in a way...
'But then is it more terrifying to be parents to a young boy who's got the same images and rhetoric flying at him?'
Georgie then asked 'where are the positive role models?' for young men.
'Why are they [influencers] constantly calling out the negative ones?' she said.
Panelist Susie Youssef addressed the difficulties of queer kids and kids transitioning in the current online climate.
'There's such a broad spectrum here toward gender and sexuality and its heartening in a way to see young men questioning the role models they've been provided with' she said.
'But also where are the positive male role models that are masculine? What does that look like? I don't begin to have the answers but it does feel like there's a gap here.'
Waleed, meanwhile, set out to explain the attraction that influencers have for young people.
'Does our culture have a way of talking about masculinity that is celebrating it?' he asked.
Susie Youssef asked: 'Where are the positive male role models that are masculine? What does that look like? I don't begin to have the answers but it does feel like there's a gap here'
'I think the answer to that right now is "no".
It comes after Andrew Tate was compared to terrorists and religious extremists by Australian academics.
They also found Tate's attacks on boys and men who don't fit 'his very rigid interpretation of masculinity' are far more common than his sexist views on women.
Professor Steven Roberts and Dr Stephanie Wescott of Melbourne's Monash University analysed more than 2,200 posts by Tate on his website and the Telegram messaging platform from December 31, 2019 to January 9, 2024.
'The extremist radicalisation of boys and men by 'manfluencer' Andrew Tate shares concerning parallels to other forms of radicalisation, such as terrorist and religious extremism,' the study found.
The experts said their analysis showed that 'what might seem like innocuous or harmless 'self-improvement' content is a gateway to more dangerous misogynistic and extremist content.
Almost 90 per cent of the posts by Tate on his website and Telegram account focused 'on advancing particular projections of what he views as the ideal manifestation of manhood and masculinity,' the research found.