Tullamore's Jordon Conroy on impact of toxic masculinity on young men
Tullamore native and Irish Rugby Sevens star Jordan Conroy has shared his concerns that influencers are negatively impacting young males' understanding of masculinity.
Speaking to Katie Hannon on Upfront: The Podcast following the release of the four-part Netflix series, Adolescence, Conroy said young men make him worry that society is failing them.
"It always goes back to being the alpha male and I was like, 'You know there’s more to me than my strength, my speed, my physical capabilities?’
"A man, to me, isn’t just judged by what he can provide, what he makes or what he can do."
Influencers, such as Andrew Tate "don't know how bad" their impact on young boys is, Conroy said.
"It's very complicated and obviously they're doing all that for click bait and trying to stay relevant by saying outrageous things.
"It's very interesting to me why people look up to them. It just kind of makes me question sometimes, have we as mentors or parents failed the younger generation because we can't keep up today with what's going on on the internet?"
He added that adults need to take more responsibility, and show teenagers that this toxic behaviour is "not real life".
"This is what they think works when they see adults talking to women in a sometimes degrading manner, they think 'OK he's doing that. That's what's going to work.'
"It's about the people you see online and the people you're going to meet in the real world: they don't function like that. It's not real life."