Sexism

Sexism, towards women and girls, is the belief that they aren’t as good as men and boys. It can be seen in unkind comments, mean jokes, or rules that say girls shouldn’t be allowed to do certain things just because they are girls.

It is sometimes called misogyny.

Sexism can lead to girls and women being treated unfairly, and not given the same opportunities as boys and men. This is wrong. Everyone deserves to be treated equally and with respect.

Sexist content is never harmless. The real world impact on women and girls is significant. Girls your age, your sisters, friends and classmates are all effected by this sort of content:

• 92% of girls aged 11–21 have taken action to enhance their online safety.¹
• 3 in 4 girls aged 11–16 have seen or experienced sexism in real life.²
• 68% of girls aged 11–21 have changed everyday behaviour to avoid harassment.¹
• 86% of girls aged 11-21 have avoided going out at night or when it’s dark to stay safe.¹

Sexist or misogynistic content online is often part of wider harmful online spaces, meaning you may also be exposed to extreme views targeting people because of their faith, race, disability, or because they are LGBT.

By choosing not to like, share or comment on sexist or misogynistic content, you can help stop its spread. Small actions can make a real difference.

SOURCES:
1. Girlguiding’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2025
2. Girlguiding’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2024

It’s not just girls who are affected.

Harmful sexist content also shapes how boys and young men think they should act.

• 59% of boys believe they are expected to act tough and suppress emotion.³
• 57% of boys say that failing to join in with peer behaviour risks social exclusion.³
• 21% of boys say their friends would not support them if they challenged sexist comments.³

You don’t have to fit into someone else’s idea of what masculinity should look like.

SOURCES:
3. Barnardo’s / Censuswide poll 2026

• Social media algorithms affect the content that you see by monitoring what you engage with. Platforms interpret engagements such as likes, shares and comments as signals of interest – and any engagement, even negative responses, tell the algorithm this content is generating attention and should be shown to more people. This can dramatically increase its reach.
• You might be watching and liking videos about fitness or gaming. The algorithm then suggests related content, which can include creators who mix those topics with negative views on women and relationships. You haven’t searched for this material, but if you start engaging with it, the algorithm will continue shaping your feed with similar views – and potentially more extreme content.
• Over time, this creates a one-sided information environment with increasingly narrow views and opinions filling your online feed. Including disinformation (false and harmful information deliberately created to mislead you) where narrow perspectives are repeated and begin to feel normal or true.
• Your engagement history doesn’t just shape what you see – it can influence what your network sees too. Engaging with sexist or misogynistic content can pull more of it into your feed and potentially into the feeds of your connections.

When you like, share, or comment on sexist content:

• Your feed shows you more of the same, often increasingly extreme in content/views.
• High engagement makes harmful views appear mainstream or socially acceptable, when they are not.
• It encourages creators to produce more.
• Over time it can shape your own views of what is acceptable simply because you are seeing it more often, impacting your real-life attitudes and relationships now and in the future.
• This content can also affect how you feel about yourself. You might find yourself constantly comparing yourself to influencers – how you look, how much money you have, how popular you are – and feeling like you’re falling short, which can have an impact on your mental health.
• It can also make you feel like you need to hide emotions like sadness, fear, or vulnerability, when actually these are normal feelings that everyone experiences. You don’t have to fit into someone else’s idea of what masculinity should look like.