According to The Spectator, single-sex schools can act as a breeding ground for toxic masculinity. From my own experience, I agree with this claim. I heard derogatory comments made by students attempting to assert their masculinity. While this behaviour sometimes felt shocking, it often became normalised to the point where such comments were treated as acceptable or even routine within the school environment.
At my single-sex school, people were trying to show off their masculinity through physical dominance, bullying each other and being too big for their boots. Research from the sociologist R.W. Connell, a leading expert in the field, supports this observation. He argues that all-male environments tend to create a hierarchy in which one dominant form of masculinity is valued above others.
Throughout my four years of secondary school, I noticed that many students adopted so-called “alpha” behaviours on a daily basis. In some cases, this appeared to be a way of compensating for personal insecurities or difficulties in their lives outside of school.
Despite these issues, my experience was not entirely negative. Being involved in sports and maintaining a close group of friends through extracurricular activities played an important role in supporting both my mental and physical wellbeing.
However, at times the school environment felt unforgiving. Any display of femininity or vulnerability was often interpreted as weakness, creating an atmosphere that resembled army barracks rather than a space for emotional development.
The quote from actor, Lennie James, “I went to an all-boys’ school in South London and the only god was sport”, summaries my experience of the environment where showing competitiveness, being strong and being an “alpha” is how you get through school.
