#manosphere

Something I notice is, when men discuss the manosphere, they either centre the reason boys fall down that pipeline on some inner weakness or defectiveness of the boy, ie. "they're just autistic weirdos who want rules for women because they can't get their dick wet," or they centre the reason on women, "feminism had made women too woke, mean and impossible to socialise with."

What I noticed while working is that every single little Tate goblin I had to work with had conservative parents, and I have never once seen that aspect of all this discussed. Boys will reflect the social norms they are raised in within their household. The biggest preventative for manosphere bullshit I saw in the boys I worked with was a dad who isn't a fuckwit and a household that isn't LARPing the 1960s.

Firstly, they didn't have Jamie cartoonishly espousing his beliefs like a cartoon supervillain, because they did their research, and knew these boys are being carefully taught by the adults in the manosphere to hide their power level. They showed the full reality of what Jamie had become under the tutelage of the manosphere by letting their teachings silently guide his actions.

Second, they almost completely removed Katie from the conversation. That was so important because men would have jumped all over that to devalue the messaging by calling it another piece of feminist trash centered around women. Men were center stage in this, portrayed in respectful honesty, flaws and all.

Jamie's dad was legitimately an alright dude, but he had his family walking on eggshells with those tantrums of his, and I imagine the truth of that was such an uncomfortable but necessary glimpse in the mirror for men. My brother has never laid hands on a woman in his life either, but he has that same inability to emotionally regulate when he gets angry, and I think it was important for men to see what it looks like for the people around them to deal with. By centering the male experience in an honest way, in making a piece of media men might not completely dismiss outright, they get to see what they look from the point of a spectator's view, and that's so goddamned important.

Third, they left a lot of stuff about the Red Pill confusing and vague. This is going to spur parents to do more research, which is so fucking necessary, and it's going to keep the manosphere from saying, "Well, this and this and this is completely misconstrued." This is important because if we want legislation passed to protect young people from the Manosphere, we need to focus on the long term damage over time done to the psyche, on the actual damage they're doing to young boys, rather than focus on criticizing rhetoric they've got meticulously built dialog trees to defend. We need to build a case that the Manosphere is full of predators absolutely breaking the psyches of young boys for money.

This is easily one of the best shows I’ve watched in a long time. Netflix consistently delivers when it comes to miniseries, and this was no exception. But what makes Adolescence truly remarkable is that it tells a story that needed to be told.

We see the online radicalization of young men and boys every day. And because of the work I do on this topic, I can tell you that what’s visible - the parts we see on Instagram or Twitter - is just the tip of the iceberg. The real, insidious radicalization happens in the shadows: in private group chats on WhatsApp, Discord servers, and locked Reddit threads. It’s a thousand times worse than most people realize. So when the show actually name-dropped the word "manosphere," I was stunned. No one ever talks about it, despite how much it impacts young people - especially boys.

Beyond the subject matter, Adolescence was incredibly well-written. The way it handled the school environment, the interactions between parents, and the way adults often fail to grasp the coded language and social hierarchies of online spaces, it was all so nuanced, so painfully real.

This is the kind of content we need more of. I am begging Netflix to stop churning out serial killer shows that glorify their subjects. Instead, we need more stories like this.

And beyond the writing, the acting and directing were on another level. Stephen Graham was phenomenal. Every time he was on screen, I was in tears. And when I found out this was Owen Cooper’s first acting role? No experience at all? Just some random kid? He blew me away, especially in Episode 3. The entire cast delivered such raw, powerful performances.

Also, the fact that every episode was filmed in a single continuous shot...wow. I didn’t even notice at first, but once I realized it, it became clear how much it added to the story. It intensifies the realism, the claustrophobia, and the sense of inescapable momentum.

I’ve seen people say that parents of young boys should watch this. I disagree. The manosphere and the rise of online misogyny isn’t just about young boys. It’s about all of us. We contribute to it when we ignore it, when we allow it to continue unchecked, when we don’t talk about it. This isn’t just a show for parents. Everyone needs to watch this and understand the devastating real-world consequences of the misogyny that festers online.