22/08/2026
The manosphere is an easy demon, ridiculous to the point where we'd be tempted to dismiss it from discourse here.
11 years ago, my son Kai and I were invited to participate in an episode of Talking Point, the long-running CNA show hosted by Steven Chia. The episode talked about the role of fathers in families, and I remember Kai and I being horrified at the views of one of the participants who, simply put, maintained strict divisions of duties between parents based on gender. Dads bring home the bacon, set the rules, and moms do the cooking and the housekeeping (or supervise the helpers' housekeeping).
I also remember clearly saying that I felt attitudes were shifting as regards gender roles. I am clearly wrong - they seem to have been leaning in the last decade towards the easy demon.
This is alarming, and I thought of the generation of kids like the ones featured in that Talking Point episode, whose views have been informed by those held by their fathers. What do they think now? How do they view women?
There might be an answer in the article (link in comments) I read this morning. There might also be a hint in how some people reacted to my joining APRW last year. A composite paraphrased quote might go something like, "wah, every other director is a woman leh! You can handle ah?"
I joked about myself being the agency's diversity hire, but I am really troubled by how we're influencing a whole generation of young men who think nothing of casual sexism, get away with it, and embolden themselves to more sinister things. Do a quick search on 'Scots College sexual assault' or 'Sydney Swans' today and you'll find that easy demon popping up everywhere down the rabbit hole.
The other thing I remember - at the close of the Talking Point episode, Steven asked the kids, "who's the boss in the family"? Kai yelled, "Mama!"
