Beyond Adolescence: The Dangerous Impact of Misogyny on International Relations

The recent pop culture hit Adolescence is more than a binge-worthy show; it is the catalyst of a conversation about the dangerous rise of misogyny in today’s society. The show itself is a gripping tale that explores the reasons behind a teen boy’s murder of his classmate, a fourteen-year-old girl. It received global attention because of the shocking revelations that examined the harmful stereotypes, gender norms, and misogynistic beliefs that arose with the Andrew Tate phenomenon. However, these impacts are not restricted to classroom matters. They transcend borders, shape diplomatic relations, and destabilise communities, creating consequences on the global stage.

Misogyny is beginning in classroom settings. Teachers report an increase in bad behaviour at schools, where boys are “barking at female staff and blocking doorways”, mimicking the influence of figures like Andrew Tate (Adams, 2025). This does not only reflect poorly behaved children, but they are symptoms of a broader, sinister shift across the globe that stretches well beyond the ages of adolescence.

The “Andrew Tate Syndrome” centres around traditional and outdated ideologies that categorise men into “Alpha”, “Beta”, and “Sigma” hierarchies depending on their dominance or submissiveness. Specifically, a “Sigma Male” is classified as a man that is “successful and popular but also silent and rebellious, a type of man who plays by his own rules” (Validivia, 2023).

These labels, while absurd, are deeply influential. Young boys are now influenced online into believing that domination over women are signs of masculine success. Other harmful influences reduce women’s ability to have and raise children, their appearance, and succumbing to men’s needs.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Valdivia’s (2023) insights into the ‘Manosphere’ suggests that technological affordances have been utilised by the political far-right to shape a pathway that promotes hateful and divisive ideology. Specifically, a range of blogs, forums, social media threads are propagating the emergence of the Manosphere, Incel culture, and “Sigma/Alpha male” categorisations - ideologies that suggest men are under attack by feminism and modernity. As Valdivia (2023) and Hadford (2023) note, rather than attributing their disillusionment to the economic failures of neoliberalism, many men find refuge in blaming women and progressive social change for their perceived loss of power.

Hadford (2023) goes further to relate “Sigma Male” alienation and asceticism to Karl Marx’s theory of alienation to explain how existing frustrations manifest in concentrated forms of asceticism. 

A central figure of this form of propaganda is Andrew Tate, whose influence reflects the Manosphere’s core message. Tate and his brother Tristan, have been under investigation by the Romanian and US authorities on serious charges, including rape, assault, and human trafficking (Hu, 2025). While these charges remain under legal scrutiny, this reflects a pattern that is consistent with overt misogyny present in Tate’s content. A simple search on YouTube reveals disturbing examples – for instance, one popular video (below) where Tate argues that a woman’s “value” decreases as they age, and men’s increase, reinforcing deeply harmful gender norms. These are the kind of figures that children are learning from.

In politics, misogyny is often embedded in populist narratives. Gaufman and Ganesh (2024) argue that Donald Trump’s recent presidential victory demonstrated examples of sexist rhetoric and policies that point towards removing basic women’s rights. “I am much better looking than her”, was one of the remarks Trump made about his opponent, Kamala Harris, aimed at mocking her looks and gender (ABC, 2024).

Unfortunately, many voters did not see this as disqualifying. Instead, it was almost seen as part of his “brand”, sort of a tell-it-like-it-is populism. Trump’s alignment with authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin also indicates an admiration for politics rooted in male dominance. One example that is highlighted in Cohen’s analysis (2022) of Putin’s use of power in reigning was Putin’s decision to bring a large dog to his 2007 meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had a well-known phobia of dogs. (Cohen, 2022).

This video shows Putin’s calculated attempt to assert dominance and discomfort, a gendered power play in a diplomatic context. The normalisation of such beliefs and actions by world leaders goes beyond just influencing their immediate supporters, but sends the global message that sexism is excusable, even powerful. In my opinion, this is where the danger lies. A study by Watson et al. (2025) argues that Trumpism, referring to right-wing populist rhetoric is a cause of the rise of misogyny experienced by female politicians. The study found that female politicians experienced more misogyny and abuse, responding to abuse came with personal costs, psychosocial impacts of harassment were considerable, and that the nature of harassment had shifted (Watson et al. 2025).

In more extreme cases, misogyny becomes a core ideology of governance. According to the UN (2025), the Taliban has imposed extreme bans and restrictions on women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. These include a ban on education past primary school, salary cuts, restrictions on attending public places and events, healthcare controls, and a complete obstruction to female freedom (Amnesty International, 2024).

Despite two decades of international aid and policy aimed at empowering Afghan women, the resurgence of such oppressive control hidden behind a religious facade demonstrates the fragility of a deeply misogynistic system.

This matters on the global stage. When one country institutionalises misogyny, it emboldens others. It sets a standard that women’s rights are negotiable, even optional.

The release of Adolescence raised alarms about discrimination as a growing cultural concern. This is not just classroom antics. Children are being exposed to dangerous online propaganda that shape their understanding of gender roles and acceptable behaviour from an early age. Political policies, world leaders, and global action contribute to how we approach women’s rights as a global security issue. It demands that we call out misogyny for what it is: a violent, regressive force, and calls for action for a reframing of our approach to diplomacy and peace building.

Sources

1- ABC News 2024, ‘Donald Trump mocks Kamala Harris's voice and appearance in rally speech laden with insults’, ABC, accessed 13th May, 2025, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-18/donald-trump-launches-personal-attacks-on-biden-and-macron/104239176>.

2- Adams R 2025, ‘Barking at female staff and blocking doorways: teachers warn of rise in misogyny and racism in UK schools’, The Guardian, accessed 28th April, 2025, <https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/19/teachers-warn-rise-misogyny-racism-uk-schools>.

3- Amnesty International 2024, ‘Afghanistan 2024’, accessed on 1st May, 2025, <https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/>.

4- Cohen, R 2022, ‘The making of Vladimir Putin’, The New York Times.

5- Gaufman, E and Ganesh, B 2024, ‘Misogyny’ The Trump Carnival: Populism, Transgression and the Far Right, pp. 73 - 83.

6- Hadford, C 2023, ‘The Sigma male grindset as alienation and asceticism: A rejection of individual emancipation in the work of Karl Marx’, The Motley Undergraduate Journal, vol. 1, no.1.

7- Hu, Z 2025, ‘Andrew Tate's empire of abuse’, Dissent, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 6-11.

8- UN 2025, Afghanistan: Taliban restrictions on women’s rights intensify, acessed on 19th of May 2025, https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1162826

9- Valdivia, M 2023, ‘Alpha, Beta, Sigma: A critical analysis of Sigma male ideology’, University of Windsor.

10-Watson, R, Hammans, L, Hansby, O, Barry-Walsh, J and Every-Palmer, S 2025, ‘Misogyny, racism, and threats to our families: a qualitative study of harassment of female politicians’, Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, pp.1-29.

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