Why Louis Theroux’s Documentary Matters

Manosphere Workshops for schools are becoming increasingly relevant as the release of Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere on Netflix on 11 March 2026 has brought renewed attention to one of the most pressing safeguarding and educational issues facing young people today.

This feature length documentary, approximately 1 hour 31 minutes and rated TV MA, provides rare, unrestricted access as Theroux investigates what Netflix describes as a growing ultra masculine network and its controversial influencers, while Tudum highlights its focus on the growing cultural influence of extremist influencers on young boys.

Theroux travels from Miami to New York and Marbella, meeting prominent figures including Harrison Sullivan, known as HSTikkyTokky, Myron Gaines, Sneako, whose full name is Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy, Justin Waller and Ed Matthews.

These influencers frequently blend mainstream topics such as fitness, business, self improvement, discipline and motivation with more extreme views on masculinity, relationships, gender roles and feminism. Women are often portrayed as manipulative, equality as a form of weakness and emotional vulnerability as unmanly.

Manosphere Workshops and the Urgent Need to Address Online Ultra-Masculine Influencers

For schools, colleges, and universities, Manosphere Workshops are now more relevant than ever. This is far more than a passing media moment or niche online trend. It reflects a broader online culture already visible in many educational settings through:

• sexist language and casual misogyny
• dismissive attitudes towards women and girls
• distorted beliefs about relationships and consent
• admiration for online personalities who equate male success with dominance, control, and emotional detachment

These attitudes are no longer confined to fringe internet spaces. They are filtering into mainstream youth culture via social media algorithms, short-form videos, podcasts, gaming communities, and recommendation systems that present harmful content as normal, aspirational, or even empowering.

The Subtle Entry Point: How Manosphere Content Spreads to Young People

A major challenge for schools is that manosphere content rarely arrives in its most extreme form. Young people do not usually seek out overtly misogynistic or extremist material. Instead, many first encounter these ideas through seemingly harmless or motivational content about confidence, dating advice, self-improvement, fitness, money, discipline, or success.

At first glance, the messaging can appear positive and aspirational. Over time, however, it often shifts towards a worldview that:

• frames women as manipulative or entitled
• portrays gender equality as a threat or weakness
• encourages boys to suppress vulnerability and emotion
• presents relationships as power struggles centred on control, status, and dominance

This gradual progression is significant. Harmful attitudes can take root long before teachers or parents identify the source. Language and beliefs absorbed online frequently appear offline in the form of jokes, peer-group comments, increasingly rigid views on masculinity and gender, and behaviours that undermine respect and safety.

Ofcom’s qualitative research (published June 2025) describes the manosphere as a broad, overlapping set of online spaces—including red pill and black pill communities, incel forums, men’s rights groups, pick-up culture, and adjacent self-improvement content—where misogynistic views can proliferate. Exposure is often passive, driven by algorithms rather than deliberate searches.

Why General Messages About Respect Are Not Enough – The Case for Targeted Manosphere Workshops

Simple messages about “kindness” or “respect” are rarely sufficient to counter daily exposure to persuasive influencer content, peer discussions, and algorithmic feeds. Young people need structured, age-appropriate education that enables them to:

• critically examine how these messages are constructed
• understand why they can feel compelling (often by exploiting insecurities around identity, belonging, confidence, status, and relationships)
• recognise their impact on attitudes towards women and girls, consent, healthy relationships, self-image, and school culture as a whole

At 2020 Dreams, our Manosphere Workshops for Schools are specifically designed to address these issues in a thoughtful, engaging, and safeguarding-focused manner. Delivered as bespoke 1–4 hour sessions (in-person or virtual via Zoom/Teams), the workshops create space for critical thinking, open discussion, and reflection—avoiding simplistic blame or shaming.

Participants explore:

• how influencers build credibility and monetise content (e.g., provocative clips rewarded by algorithms)
• how misogyny is often disguised as “truth-telling” or self-improvement
• the psychological appeal of certainty, direction, and belonging offered by these figures
• how harmful gender narratives influence everyday language, attitudes, and behaviour

Early signs in schools and colleges are frequently subtle: sexist humour, dismissive comments about girls, hostility towards conversations about consent, admiration for aggressive online personas, or the belief that respect and equality signal weakness. If left unchallenged, these attitudes can become embedded in peer culture, affecting how students treat one another, how boys understand masculinity, and how safe girls and young women feel in educational environments.

A Timely Opportunity: Using the Documentary to Promote Manosphere Workshops

The mainstream attention generated by Louis Theroux’s documentary provides schools with a powerful, current hook to deliver Manosphere Workshops. When a topic enters wider public conversation—especially with the film now streaming on Netflix (available here: https://www.netflix.com/title/81920687 are more likely to recognise the content, and staff often feel more confident raising it.

This creates an ideal opening to move beyond reacting to isolated incidents and instead deliver proactive, meaningful education that tackles the wider online culture driving these attitudes.

The urgency is heightened by the broader 2026 context around children’s online safety. In March 2026, Ofcom and the ICO urged major platforms (Meta, TikTok, Snap, YouTube) to strengthen age assurance, restrict stranger contact with children, improve content feeds, and fully comply with the Online Safety Act. The UK Government has also been considering tighter restrictions on children’s social media access amid growing concern about algorithmic exposure to harmful and addictive content.

Manosphere Workshops offer a proactive, evidence-informed response. They help students understand how online influence operates, how harmful narratives become normalised, and how algorithm-driven content can shape beliefs without full awareness. The sessions align directly with statutory PSHE, RSHE, Prevent, and safeguarding priorities, encouraging reflection on respect, accountability, emotional wellbeing, healthy relationships, and the distinction between positive masculinity and harmful online ideology.

A Balanced, Non-Shaming Approach in Manosphere Workshops for Schools

An effective response to the manosphere must avoid moral panic. It should be informed, balanced, and rooted in the realities of youth culture. Many boys and young men are navigating genuine pressures around identity, belonging, confidence, relationships, and status. Some are drawn to online figures who appear to offer clear answers, direction, or community.

Our Manosphere Workshops therefore do not shame participants or reduce the issue to a single controversial influencer. Instead, they create safe space to explore:

• why this content can feel appealing
• how it exploits insecurity
• how young people can build healthier, more respectful, and emotionally mature understandings of masculinity

The deeper concern for schools, colleges, and universities is not simply whether students know the term “manosphere”. It is how associated attitudes are already influencing behaviour, language, and relationships in real educational communities—potentially reinforcing entitlement, normalising disrespect, undermining consent, and creating environments where harmful behaviour is minimised or excused.

Addressing these issues early is not about overreacting to a trend. It is about prevention, critical thinking, and creating safer, more inclusive spaces for all students.

Complementary Workshops to Build a Comprehensive Response Alongside Manosphere Workshops

The manosphere does not exist in isolation. Its ideas feed into and reinforce broader challenges around everyday sexism, toxic expressions of masculinity, consent, healthy relationships, online safety, and gender-based violence. Combining sessions delivers a more joined-up approach that meets statutory PSHE/RSHE/Prevent duties comprehensively.

Consider pairing or sequencing Manosphere Workshops with these highly relevant offerings from 2020 Dreams:

• Misogyny Workshops Direct companion: Covers everyday sexism, toxic masculinity, incel culture, influencer-driven misogyny, online radicalisation, and building respectful relationships. Ideal for deeper anti-sexism work.
• Toxic Masculinity Workshops Addresses emotional suppression, aggression, homophobia, and developing empathy and healthy masculinity—perfect follow-up to the rigid gender norms promoted in manosphere spaces.
• Healthy Relationships Workshops Builds positive alternatives: consent, respect, boundaries, emotional intimacy, and countering unhealthy patterns drawn from manosphere narratives.
• Consent Workshops Tackles myths, coercion, and power imbalances undermined by manosphere views on relationships and control.

Other valuable options include:

• Internet Safety Workshops (for algorithmic harms, digital literacy, cyberbullying, grooming, and protecting against online abuse that overlaps with manosphere content)
• Radicalisation Workshops (Prevent duty overlap, spotting grooming tactics, questioning harmful online narratives, and early intervention against extremism pathways)
• VAWG Workshops (Violence Against Women and Girls: addressing gender-based violence, coercive control, harassment, exploitation, and links to online misogyny)
• Gender Equality Workshops (tackling bias, stereotypes, representation, respect, and promoting inclusive environments to counter rigid gender norms)

This integrated approach supports schools in delivering holistic safeguarding and personal development education.

2020 Dreams delivers Manosphere Workshops for Schools (and complementary sessions) that help students critically examine online misogyny, challenge harmful influencer culture, and develop healthier understandings of masculinity, relationships, and respect. The aim is to equip young people with the tools to question damaging narratives, consume online content more critically, and contribute to safer, healthier, and more respectful educational environments for everyone.

Book today—bespoke sessions tailored to your setting. Full details and booking: https://2020dreams.org.uk/pshe-workshops/rse/manosphere-workshops/

Explore our wider resources on toxic masculinity, online safety, healthy relationships, and the handbook Supporting Children and Teens Through their Toughest Years. Contact us now to discuss how we can support your school, college, or organisation.