An Australian motivational podcaster and content creator has been publicly criticised for what has been described as his “dangerous” views on women and paid work.
Chris Griffin, host of The Pocket with Chris Griffin, a self-help podcast featuring motivational interviews with individuals from business, health and sporting backgrounds, expressed his views that he does not wish for his female partner to work “if she doesn’t want to”.
The clip was reshared by Laura Henshaw, co-founder and CEO of fitness app KIC, who criticised his take, describing it as “backwards”.
“If you feel the need to go and work to make money and then you come home and you’re complaining about your day — when we don’t need you to make money because you’re sorted,” Griffin said in the clip.
“If we’ve got four hours to spend in the afternoon and I ask you ‘how was your day today, babe’ I want your eyes to light up in excitement about whatever the f*** it was.”
Griffin’s guest on the episode, adventure-seeking influencer Wade Papenfus, agreed, describing it as “energy” the partner brings back into the home and that it needs to be “so good.”
Griffin continued, saying that a man with a busy life needs “calm, harmony, peace and love” when trying to relax after a day.
“This is why I heavily encourage hot girl walks. I would love my partner to go on a hot girl walk with her friends every day. She gets this feminine energy, they get to talk their sh*t and they get to have a bit of excitement about their day,” he said.
“I don’t think a girl needs to go through challenge, pain and hardship to be an amazing girl. I think she can fill her days with passion-filled things and still be amazing.”
The clip of the episode was posted on April 24, but over the past week, has received an influx of backlash, including from prominent feminist advocates Carly Finlay and Clementine Ford; both of whom commented in the podcast posts’ comments section asking if Griffin has ever spoken to a woman.
On her Instagram account, Laura Henshaw, who co-hosts her own podcast, Kickpod, shared the clip, writing that women don’t exist to “serve their partners. To live our days so we can be in a ‘good mood’ for them.”
The 32-year old said, “It’s really important women (all people feel empowered to work [and] not be completely financially dependent within a relationship which can lead to financial abuse.”
“[Women should] be empowered to establish a career so if you do separate you have built skills so you can get a job to support yourself,” she continued, adding the importance of women to build up their superannuation for retirement.
Henshaw went on to highlight the statistic that the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australia is women over 55, before describing Griffin’s views as “f*cking terrifying” and “so toxic and backwards.”
On Tuesday this week, Griffin addressed Henshaw in the comment section of the podcast’s video, saying he “understands” her point of view but arguing that the key phrase in his clip was “unless she wants to”.
“This isn’t about control. It’s about choice,” he wrote. “If she wants to chase a career, I’ll back her 100%. If she wants to stay home, I’ll support that too. That’s what freedom in a relationship should look like.”
“I also don’t measure a woman’s worth by income,” he continued. “I see her value in things far more significant than a dollar figure. You mentioned financial abuse, and I agree, it’s real. But it comes from manipulation, not from who earns the money. A healthy relationship built on trust and mutual respect, should prevent this.”
He said he doesn’t think its fair to label traditional masculine values as “toxic” and he simply wants to “provide, protect and lead with strength”.
The podcaster added that there were “too many weak men out there” and described hyper-independent women as “toxic femininity.”
“Men and women are equal, absolutely. But we are not the same. Pretending we are strips away our natural strengths and creates confusion instead of connection,” he said. “I respect your view, I just don’t share it. And I know not everyone will agree with mine, but that’s okay. I’m not here to please everyone. I just stand by what I believe, with respect.”
Yesterday, Henshaw expressed her reaction to his response on her Instagram stories, calling it “incredibly disappointing.”
“I am sure you don’t have bad intentions but I do really hope you are able to step back and reflect on a perspective on this outside of your own to understand how layered and complex what you are talking about it and the damage your content is doing,” she wrote.
Speaking to news.com.au, Henshaw said that Griffin’s words sent “a dangerous…terrifying message to the younger generation who are influenced by this type of content.”
“Social media can be a really great place but there is also a dark side where content like this that is misogynistic and implies that women should ‘serve’ men is prevalent and running rife within the algorithm of young men and teenage boys,” she said.
According to the publication, Griffin invited Henshaw to a discussion. “Rather than going back and forth online, I’d love to invite Laura onto my podcast for an open and honest convo. If she’s up for it, so am I,” he said.
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