Live: The manosphere unpacked. Our experts answer your questions

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Given the nature of the manosphere, it's likely that today may touch on some issues that are confronting and difficult.

If you, or anyone you know, needs help, you can find support at each of the services below:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• 1800RESPECT, national domestic family and sexual violence counselling service on 1800 737 732
• MensLine on 1300 78 99 78

We've seen some sobering statistics out of a University of Melbourne study recently.

The study surveyed Australian youths and adults about their attitudes to women, gender equality and extremist views. It found that young men are more likely to hold hostile attitudes to women than their grandfathers' generation.

Among boys aged 13-17: 

• 35 per cent agree with misogynistic attitudes
• 35 per cent express a mistrust of women
• 25 per cent believe feminism is damaging to our society and should be resisted with violence if necessary
• 25-30 per cent express agreement with various forms of violent extremism

Among boys and men of all ages:

• 30-35 per cent express the belief that gender equality measures have gone too far
• 24-29 per cent believe that feminism is a hate movement

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According to recent research: very. 

Research conducted by the Movember Institute of Men's Health found that 68 per cent of young Australian men aged 16-25 engaged with masculinity influencers. That’s more than in the UK (61 per cent) or the US (60 per cent).

A 2024 Dublin City University study found that it took roughly 23 minutes of video watching on either TikTok or YouTube Shorts for the algorithms to start recommending "toxic" content.

Another 2024 study by YouGov and girls' empowerment charity Tomorrow Woman found that 42 per cent of female students said their male peers were influenced by the likes of Andrew Tate and the manosphere.

It also found that one in four female high school students in Australia felt unsafe at school due to these behaviours.

We've already got some fantastic questions coming through. Our experts will be clocking on shortly, so please keep them coming.

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Earlier this year, the federal government announced it would introduce laws requiring social media companies give users the option to opt in or out of the algorithm on their feeds.

What does this have to do with the manosphere?

Well, advocates like Chanel Contos argue the algorithm exposes young people to misogynistic content and fuels the prevalence of sexual violence and gendered attitudes towards women.

We asked Chanel what regular Australians should know about the campaign and legislation. 

"Social media algorithms are increasingly flooding young men's feeds with radical misogynistic content. This is inciting and worsening real-world harm, particularly towards women and girls. The content they're systematically targeted with frequently blames women for any misfortunes they experience, and reinstates harmful and outdated gender stereotypes, like that women shouldn’t hold jobs or earn their own money.

"Fifteen thousand Australians signed our open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and in early September the Government committed to the #FixOurFeeds campaign as part of the Digital Duty of Care legislation — you may have heard it referred to as 'My Feed, My Way'.

"This commitment to allow Australians to turn their algorithms on and off will give people control back over their own data and feeds and disrupt how easily recommendation algorithm systems feed young men and boys manosphere content. The legislation is expected to be introduced into parliament this week, and we're focused on ensuring the detail matches the ambition."

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You might have seen these terms on social media, or heard them from a young man in your life. Here's your (non-exhaustive) manosphere glossary:

• Manosphere: A loose network of communities that claim to address men's struggles — dating, fitness or fatherhood, for example — but often promote harmful advice and attitudes.
• Red pill/Blue pill: Red pill ideology, or to "be redpilled," means to wake up to a reality that the world favours women over men (a reference to The Matrix).
• Incel (involuntary celibate): A person who believes that men are entitled to sex and that women purposefully deprive them of it; a core manosphere ideology.
• Pickup artist (PUA): A term referring to individuals who promote a core manosphere ideology that teaches members how to coerce women into sex.
• Alpha male/Beta male: The hierarchy in the manosphere culture: alphas are dominant and desirable, while betas are weak and unsuccessful.
• Sigma male: The lone wolf archetype who embodies independence and dominance.
• Chad: The archetype of an alpha male: a muscular, sexually successful man.
• Simp: An insult targeting men viewed as excessively kind, deferential or supportive of women.
• Looksmaxxing: Attempting to increase sexual attractiveness, including through exercise, behaviours and sometimes surgery.
• High-value men: A reference to someone with superficial markers of value, including attractiveness, fitness and wealth

These definitions come from UN Women's educational materials on online violence. You can find the full glossary here.

A new ABC documentary looking into the manosphere, The State of Man, airs tonight, and its host, Marc Fennell, shared how he approached the series.

"No matter who I’m talking to, whether I personally agree with them or not, I like to give people enough space to eventually say the quiet part out loud," he said.

"There’s a version of documentary making where you create big confrontations or stunts because they make great television. Sometimes people just shit stir. And look, I love watching that stuff. But it’s not really what I do.

"I try to approach people with clear eyes and a critical mind, but also genuine curiosity. I’m not sitting there waiting to catch somebody out. I actually want to know why they think what they think.

"The strange thing is that when you give people that space, sometimes you hear some truly cooked things."

You can watch The State of Man tonight at 8pm on ABC TV, or add it to your watchlist and stream it for free on ABC iview.

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We're lucky enough to be joined by three experts today to cover a few different areas linked to the manosphere.

Dr Billy Garvey is a developmental paediatrician, researcher and author. He is the founder of Guiding Growing Minds, a social enterprise bringing evidence-based child development science to communities and families across Australia. He's also the co-host of the Pop Culture Parenting podcast.

Genevieve Sheppard  is a former teacher and currently holds the position of principal advisor, respectful relationships education at Our Watch. For over a decade, she has supported governments, education systems and schools to embed evidence-based, whole-of-school approaches to preventing gender-based violence.

Dr Zac Seidler is a clinical psychologist and leading researcher in men's mental health. He is the global director of men's health research at the Movember Institute of Men's Health, leading research focused on how masculinity, culture and social norms influence men's mental health and help-seeking behaviours.

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Hi, and thanks for joining us today.

I'm Anna, and I'll be with you for the next few hours, along with my colleague Georgia.

We want to hear from you. Our expert contributors have a wealth of knowledge in parenting, mental health, social media, respectful relationships, and more, and they're on call to answer your questions.

Maybe you're curious about the language you've heard from your son, brother, or partner. Perhaps you'd like to know how to have a constructive conversation about online misogyny with a young person in your life. Or maybe you want to learn more about how social media algorithms present young men with toxic content.

Submit your questions using the yellow button at the top of the page.