Anger as SBS' airs ‘dangerous' show with conservative influencers
Titled 'Men Debate Masculinity', the current affairs program saw six high-profile men weigh in on issues surrounding gender roles, domestic violence and dating.
The 43-minute segment, which dropped on YouTube on Friday, profiled three well-known advocates, Tarang Chawla, Mitch Wallis and Jeff Kissubi as they came face-to-face with Dean Wells, Chris Katelaris and Clayton Harrop, three men who regularly go viral with their outspoken views on women and relationships.
SBS stressed the views discussed are not their own, and said the episode was aimed at bringing each of the men together to 'challenge each other's ideas in one room'.
Topics posed on the show included, 'having lots of sexual partners is tied to your status as a man', 'men are wired to be more aggressive' and 'men have a responsibility to step up and stop domestic violence'.
Anger at views on female 'body count'
But some viewers, and the advocates who took part, have condemned what they believe were the 'disgusting' and 'harmful' opinions about women that aired.
One particular view that garnered huge criticism came from hypnotherapist and performance coach Clayton Harrop, who discussed at length his views on sexual 'purity', a notion he said comes from his religious beliefs.
'I don't like the idea of a super high body count in women if I am completely honest,' he said.
'I personally believe that the lower a woman's body count, the better for her, and her future partner.
'I've slept with my share of women and had a great connection, and I don't look at a woman any less because of it, but if it's going to be the mother of my children, and she's going to be a representation of me, I don't want 20 other men able to say, 'Yeah I have been with her bro'. It's a chink in the armour that directly affects every other area of our life.'
By his own admission, Mr Harrop – who boasts online that he 'helps men save their marriages' – described his views 'hypocritical', largely because he encourages men to 'go sleep with heaps of women'.
While Dean Wells, a former reality star described as 'an unapologetically proud alpha male' during his stint on MAFS in 2018, agreed with the idea that women are more valuable when their sexual history isn't as extensive as a man's.
'I am not going to try and break it down on an intellectual level, but I just find a chick that has been with way too many guys, unattractive,' he said.
He also claimed during the show that, 'we need to pull back on this over feminisation of men, this massive idea that all men just need therapy'.
Advocates clap back at 'toxic' show
Mr Chawla, an anti-violence campaigner whose 23-year-old sister Nikita was horrifically murdered by her husband in a jealous rage in 2015, said his biggest concern was that the conservative voices involved were self-described mentors.
'The space of online coaches, podcasters and men's health advocates has an underbelly that often blames women or says controversial things for clout,' he told news.com.au.
'I didn't go on the panel to debate for entertainment. I went to discuss the realities of masculinity and because my sister, Nikita, was murdered by her partner, and too many men still don't take that seriously.
'If even one man who watched starts to question the culture we've built, then it was worth it for me to be there despite the personal cost.'
He also pointed out that while 'some of the views aired reflect deeply entrenched misogyny and male entitlement' that he praised SBS for fact-checking various claims throughout the segment.
'I do think it was important that SBS included fact-checking and context, so viewers could make up their own minds,' he added.
'And we can't pretend these views aren't out there, they're all over TikTok and in group chats. The difference here is that they were challenged. I made sure not to let claims that harm women – or don't serve boys and men either – slide.'
Mr Kissubi, an activist and media personality who uses his platform to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, and POC individuals, said he was 'uncomfortable' during filming and called out SBS for airing 'toxic' messaging.
'It did not feel like a debate, per se, but it was pretty much a discussion where we had people speaking over each other asserting their views,' he said in a video.
'A lot of the times we had men centring their individual experience, their privilege within the conversation, that centred them and it was a reflection of men within societies of Australia.
'We have to understand the harm around this, when we platform people that obviously hold views that are hurtful and toxic.'
He further called out the show for putting him in a position where he had to 'defend outdated beliefs', describing the experience as 'confronting' and labelling the segment as a 'Temu Jubilee'.
'Gross' Australian TV show slammed
Female advocate Mia Findlay blasted SBS and said it completely missed the mark and failed to host an effective conversation about men's violence and misogyny in Australia.
'What was this episode intending to achieve, other than virality, clicks and rage bait,' she asked on TikTok.
'It just underscores the continued lack of seriousness in having informed, effective conversations about men's violence and misogyny in this country.'
She's not the only person who has spoken out against The Feed on social media, with many arguing it 'completely missed the mark'.
'I'm glad this debate happened bc it is undeniable evidence that it is in fact as bad as we thought,' one commented.
'It's no wonder men's violence against women is rampant. Men still talking about 'body count' as if that matters. It's so gross,' said another.
There's no suggestion any of the panellists have ever personally engaged in any violence against women.
One pointed out that when Mr Chawla discussed the violent crime committed against his sister, Chris Katelaris, a self-described mentor known as 'Australia's Controversial Coach' on social media, replied 'dismissively' with the 'not all men' argument.
'A lot of men don't want to speak up, because unfortunately, there is a side of women that have been so heavily hurt that all men are now targets,' Mr Katelaris claimed.
'In my opinion that creates a massive massive divide. Women that have been hurt need to understand that not all men are their perpetrators.'
Others described the episode as a 'tough watch' and said many of the views shared were 'small minded'.
Conservative influencers defend their views
In response to the backlash, Mr Wells, Mr Katelaris and Mr Harrop have responded. Mr Harrop claimed he has been 'misrepresented' by the editing process, and said what was aired 'mischaracterises what I have said'.
'Just to be clear. I did not say it's OK for men to sleep around. Absolutely not true,' he said in a statement to news.com.au.
'I didn't say women need a low body count. I said for me personally, I want a low body count, I would not date a woman with a higher body count, as I have many times in the past, which I then went on to explain why, and my personal reasons why I wouldn't.'
The online dating coach added that it is 'somewhat of a double standard' for a man to be 'actively be sleeping around, contributing to women's body count' whilst holding that standard for his future partner.'
He added that a promo video for the show that garnered a lot of views on social media 'was a number of clipped words, stitched together without accurate context or representation', claiming he has raised this with SBS and it has since been removed from social media.
While Mr Wells, said nothing he or any of the other 'conservative men' platformed on the show, was 'remotely close to 'inappropriate' or 'outdated'.'
'There is a massive trend towards traditional values especially amongst young people …,' he told news.com.au.
'Many intelligent people, both male and female, who used to be on the side of the woke, so-called 'progressive' ideologies, (myself included) have over time realised that this group is crazy, dangerous, and we don't buy into their lies anymore.
'Many people are moving back towards a modern take on common sense traditional values. If SBS and others want to be inclusive, they should include these types of trending diverse viewpoints.'
Mr Katelaris said that the backlash was 'expected', claiming he 'didn't defend anyone unworthy of a platform'.
'The panel could have been picked better to allow for a more balanced, constructive discussion,' he told news.com.au.
'Yes, there are weak men who hurt women, but there are also strong men now standing up for women, and I've seen many of them attacked by the extreme side of feminism. That only creates more division.'
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