by Miriam Cates, Telegraph
We have become just as confused about the nature of female virtues as the masculine ones
In the wake of the hit Netflix TV series “Adolescence” and the “Lost Boys” report by the Centre for Social Justice, there has been much discussion about the importance of good male role models for boys. In the absence of a father – all too common in Britain – boys too often turn to online role models such as self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate.
Some are drawn into a destructive virtual anti-culture of violence and pornography, with serious real-world consequences. But girls spend a lot of time online too, and while there is no coherent “femosphere” to mirror the “manosphere”, the world of digital female influencers is none too wholesome either.
Popular female influencers are almost solely focused on appearance. Peddling makeup brands or showing off their “work” – cosmetic surgery – one could be forgiven for thinking that the only purpose of being female was to obtain the perfect “look”. And that ‘“look” – pouting lips, heavy makeup, barely-there clothing – bears more than a passing resemblance to the “performers” in the now ubiquitous online porn. Though unspoken, the message is clear: female perfection is about being sexually available.