Misogyny Training in Schools & The Crisis Facing Men & Boys
(Interview with George from ‘TheTinMen’)
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Real Progress for Men and Boys in the UK
In this episode of the Love & Cherish Podcast, I’m joined once again by George from The Tin Men for a wide-ranging conversation about whether things are actually getting better for men and boys — and where we’re still falling desperately short.
Since our last conversation in May, there’s been genuine progress. A men’s health strategy was announced on International Men’s Day, the ONS will begin collecting data on male victims of sexual violence for the first time, and International Men’s Day 2024 was the biggest ever celebrated in the UK — with events at Downing Street and a debate in the House of Commons. These are things that simply weren’t happening two years ago.
But as George reminds us, the men’s health strategy received just £3.5 million for male suicide — roughly 15p per man in the UK. That’s less than the House of Commons spends on catering.
Why Men’s Advocates Face So Much Hostility Online
George opens up about the relentless online abuse he receives for simply presenting data. Whether he’s discussing the gender pay gap (which is really a motherhood penalty), critiquing a flawed domestic violence survey, or questioning terms like “the patriarchy,” the response is the same: he’s called a misogynist, compared to Andrew Tate, or told to run his content past a woman before posting.
As George puts it, nobody actually challenges his arguments — they just reach for labels designed to shut the conversation down. And that tells you everything about the strength of their position.
The Problem With Misogyny Training in Schools
We discuss the government’s approach to tackling misogyny in schools and why George believes it misses the point entirely. The Youth Endowment Fund data — surveying over 10,000 children aged 13–17 — shows that boys and girls experience violence at remarkably similar rates. Boys are slightly more likely to experience violence overall, girls more likely to experience sexual assault, and boys more likely to experience physical assault and weapons violence.
Crucially, both boys and girls perpetrate violence. Teaching only boys about respect while ignoring girls’ behaviour isn’t equality — it’s ideology. George shares his own experience of being pinned down and forcibly kissed by girls at school, a memory that underlines how one-sided our conversations about youth behaviour have become.
The Cultural Fear of Men and How It Harms Everyone
We explore how the constant, disproportionate focus on male violence has created a genuine cultural panic. I share the story of a former client who was too frightened to walk through quiet Somerset villages because she believed men would attack her. George makes a powerful point: if a woman is so afraid of men that she won’t leave the house, she is being oppressed — by fear, not by men. And much of that fear is being manufactured by the very people who claim to be helping.
Family Courts, Fatherlessness, and the War on Dads
This is where our conversation becomes most urgent. The government has announced plans to repeal the presumption of joint custody in family courts — a change driven by radical feminist campaigning with no male representation on the committee. Combined with efforts to dismiss parental alienation as pseudoscience, the picture becomes deeply troubling.
George explains how these changes work together: a father facing false allegations loses the presumption of shared custody, and if he claims parental alienation, that defence is dismissed too. The people most harmed aren’t the parents — they’re the children being separated from loving fathers.
Why Fatherlessness Is a Crisis We Refuse to Name
One third of the boys helped by the charity Lads Need Dads have lost their father to early death — one in five men in the UK don’t live to 65. Others are absent due to incarceration, relationship breakdown, or a system that gives fathers minimal parental leave and even less legal protection when they take it.
George highlights the cruel irony: we deny fathers equal rights (to parental leave, to their children, to basic respect), and then blame them for not being equally responsible. You cannot demand equal responsibility without first granting equal rights.
Divorce, Separation, and Male Suicide: The Statistics
George shares findings from the largest ever study on divorce, separation, and male suicide — 106 million men across 30 countries and 75 peer-reviewed papers. The findings are stark:
- Divorced men are nearly 3 times more likely to die by suicide than married men
- Separated men are nearly 5 times more likely
- Young separated men (under 35) are nearly 9 times more likely
The highest risk window is the immediate aftermath of separation — the days and weeks when a man loses his relationship, often his home, and frequently his children. One in five male suicides in the UK is tied to child custody battles and relationship breakdown.
As a therapist who sits with these men, I see this devastation firsthand. The vulnerability in their faces when their partner says it’s over is something that stays with you.
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The Elephant in the Room: How We Treat Each Other in Marriage
I share my own perspective from the therapy room — that long-standing sexlessness in marriage, combined with the cultural message that relationship breakdown is always the man’s fault, is driving men to despair. They’re already broken by years of rejection, then blamed for the divorce, then stripped of their children by a system designed to fail them.
George adds a striking observation: lesbian marriages have the highest divorce rates of any demographic. If men were truly the cause of relationship breakdown, that statistic wouldn’t exist.
Where to Find George
George from The Tin Men:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetinmen/
- Blog: https://thetinmen.blog/
- YouTube: The Tin Men Blog
Organisations Mentioned:
- Lads Need Dads (Sonya Sheryn)
- Youth Endowment Fund
- Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Take Action
If this conversation resonated with you: Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. The more people who understand what’s really happening to men, boys, and families, the closer we get to meaningful change.
If you’re a father fighting for your children: You are not alone. Your presence in your child’s life matters more than any system wants you to believe.
If you’re a man going through separation: Please reach out to someone. The immediate aftermath is the most dangerous time — don’t go through it alone.
Subscribe to the Love and Cherish Podcast for more conversations that challenge cultural narratives and help you build the marriage you’ve always wanted.
