Man Enough: How to Protect Boys from Online Misogyny – out this week!
Our CEO and Founder, Matteo Bergamini MBE, and Head of Comms, Amelia Fairney, were out and about this week promoting their new book Man Enough: How to Protect Boys from Online Misogyny. In a week when the UK government launched a new task force dedicated to tackling misogyny, with minister Bridget Phillipson promising: “Government will lead from the front to shift the dial and send misogynistic attitudes back to the dark ages, “ Man Enough’s publication could not have been better timed.
The publicity tour kicked off with an interview for Times Radio with Hugo Rifkind where Matteo highlighted the fact that many boys are drawn into a radicalisation pipeline of extreme misogyny via seemingly innocuous content such as dating and fitness advice. Amelia highlighted that the social media business model causes such content to be actively amplified, and argued that, rather than banning children from social media, we must push for a ‘safety by design’ approach for these platforms. You can watch the full interview below.
On Wednesday, the co-authors were interviewed for an in-depth piece in the Times by Andrew Billen. In a wide-ranging interview, Billen was won over by the authors’ view that teenage boys must be treated as vulnerable targets, rather than mere perpetrators, of online misogyny. The piece explored the real-world rise in violence against women and girls and toxic influencer culture, and how equipping young people with the critical thinking skills needed to resist online manipulation must be part of the solution. Matteo and Amelia argued that media literacy and parents having open conversations with boys are key to preventing radicalisation.
The authors also took to the airwaves in a television interview with Sophy Ridge and Kamali Melbourne for Sky News, talking about the need for a new model of ‘digital parenting’ in the age of social media algorithms, and why we need to reclaim the term ‘masculinity’ from the toxic influencers who have co-opted it. You can watch the full interview below.
Finally, the team at Shout Out UK and the publishers of Man Enough, Souvenir Press invited guests to celebrate publication at a packed launch party in Daunt Books, Holland Park, where the authors were in heavy demand autographing signed copies.
Man Enough is available now in bookshops and online.
As a taster of the book’s approach and the media literacy techniques it advocates, Amelia and Matteo have also written a free conversation guide for parents, SOUK vs the Manosphere.
