Netflix’s new four-part series, Adolescence, seeks to spotlight the violence young women and girls face as a direct result of the online radicalisation of young men and boys
The writing’s on the wall: not only are women in danger, but male rage is the cause. It only takes turning on the news at 10pm regularly or picking up a paper to realise it. Since 2009, 2,000 women have been murdered by a man. There are myriad ways that violence against women and girls can exist, as all of these acts exists on a spectrum, from cat-calling to murder.
Now, with the advent of misogynistic social media content creators, boys are being conditioned from a young age through targeted algorithms. Netflix’s new four-part series, Adolescence, tackles this head on, as a young boy, Jamie Miller, kills a female class-mate.
Undoubtedly this new series is deeply unsettling, but is Netflix’s Adolescence surprising? No. Male rage has been permeating global societies, and amplifying over recent years.
Writer of the show Jack Thorne nods to Trump’s ascension to power again as an example. Or who can forget his simmering anger towards President Zelensky in the Oval Office? The most powerful man in the world, along with the likes of social media creator Andrew Tate, have had their brand of hatred shared and re-shared on apps such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Tiktok.
Netflix’s Adolescence confronts the violence against young women and girls in this country. A violence fuelled by the growing cloud of male rage, directly fed by radical and misogynistic social media content. The series unpacks how a young boy could become so enraged as to commit such a violent crime against his female class-mate.
The teenage boy, Jamie Miller, is an emblem for a societal problem. His character showcases the way young boys are increasingly radicalised and driven into isolation through social media content that turn their loneliness into hatred against women.
The show calls out misogynistic content creator Andrew Tate, as an example of the red pill influencer feeding the male rage epidemic. One of the detectives in the show makes reference to the “Andrew Tate s***e” that young boys are consuming online. Worryingly, a recent YouGov report shows that 1 in 6 boys aged between 6 and 15 have a positive view on Tate, with that number rising to 1 in 5 for 13- to 15-year-old boys.
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While these self-professed ‘alpha-males’ view themselves as superior in terms of wealth, sexual attractiveness and strength, many understand the phenomenon as ‘incel culture’. Incel, or so-called ‘red pill’, content has grown in popularity, and is now a sub-culture of men who follow far-right ideologies, that blame women for their lack of romantic success.
The term, which is mentioned throughout the series, is an abbreviated term for “involuntary celibate”, which describes someone (typically a heterosexual man) who is angered by women, sometimes due to lacking sexual experience or a feeling that women aren’t fawning over them, as they believe they are owed. For younger boys being deemed an incel means they are being likened to somebody with a future of no sexual prospects.
Incel culture pushes an ideology that men have lost or been stripped of their entitled power, typically by women and, what they perceive to be, a dangerous liberal agenda. As a result, incels feel that they need to take action to get the attention and power they deserve, and this can involve degrading, misogynistic, and violent acts against women.
Content of this nature is often derogatory toward women, viewing them as objects or second-class citizens that need to be led, tamed or punished for their actions. In the show, Jamie calls the murdered young girl a “b****”, saying that he “should’ve killed her” while denying he did.
Even young boys not directly searching for red pill or incel content are likely to see it pervade their For You pages and social media feeds. Toxic and dangerous content about how to pick up women and exploit their vulnerabilities by ‘negging’ them is rife on the social media feeds of young men and boys.
Social media algorithms are increasingly amplifying this kind of misogynistic content to young boys, according to research carried out by UCL. The study revealed that not only is extreme content promoted, but it targets young male vulnerabilities, such as loneliness and feelings of dispossession.
When vulnerable boys at an impressionable age are repeatedly shown this content, it becomes ingrained. There is a wider issue at play here on online safety for children and young people that will have real-world ramifications is it carries on unchecked.
This type of content is so pervasive it’s hard to believe that shows like Adolescence will be enough to force any considerable change. Though the fact that a company as powerful as Netflix has taken on the topic is quite significant, an indication that the media is stepping in to address the issue. Just last week, outrage from staff and consumers alike forced Spotify to remove an Andrew Tate podcast, which taught men how to manipulate and exploit women.
In an interview with Channel 4, Adolescence co-creator and co-writer, Jack Thorne explains the terrifying power of incel culture: “What makes this dangerous… is that incel-dom makes sense to people. And actually, once you look inside it, that thing of going ‘the reason why you’re isolated is because of this’ is a very, very compelling argument.”
Thorne continues: “Unless we start talking about how boys are being logically abused by these influencers we’re going to be in trouble”.
The topics broached by Adolescence are, again, nothing most women and girls haven’t already known and been shouting about for years. A danger that gets louder with every call for more ‘masculine’ workplaces. A danger that follows them into classroom, onto buses, into their homes, and on their own social media feeds.
What Adolescence also makes abundantly clear is that the stream of misogynistic content that pervades social media is warping the minds of young boys. Something needs to give, otherwise it will be young women and girls who pay the price.