Netflix’s latest hit, a British miniseries about a 13-year-old boy who kills his female classmate, has created online discourse about incels and the manosphere.
In the series, which is called “Adolescence,” young Jamie (Owen Cooper) is arrested on suspicion of murder. Detectives struggle to understand why he would have committed such a violent crime.
Through their investigation, they learn that he was radicalized by a “violent form of incel ideology,” according to the BBC.
Co-writer Stephen Graham, who also played Jamie’s father, said he was inspired by his real concern for young men all over the world.
“One of our aims was to ask, ‘What is happening to our young men these days, and what are the pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media?‘” Graham told Netflix. “And the pressures that come from all of those things are as difficult for kids here as they are the world over.”
But are young men really being radicalized by incel ideology? And how concerned should parents be?
Here’s what research shows.
What are incels?
In “Adolescence,” which is rated TV-MA for language and mild violence, Jamie is accused of being an incel by some of his classmates.
Incel is short for “involuntarily celibate.” It “describes someone, usually a male, who is frustrated by their lack of sexual experiences,” according to CNN.
The term has expanded to include men who have extreme misogynistic opinions. According to the Anti-Defamation League, incels are “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.”
“The incel ideology is rooted in the belief that women have too much power in the sexual/romantic sphere and ruin incels’ lives by rejecting them,” the ADL reports.
According to CNN, incels often suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, and are typically isolated and bitter.
What do incels believe?
A 2022 research paper on incel ideology explained that it’s rooted in misogyny, violence and extremism.
Incels often spread “violence-endorsing, misogynistic, anti-feminist” rhetoric on online forums, which are part of “a greater ‘manosphere’ movement,” researchers wrote.
Incels believe that society is based on “a looks-based hierarchy,” researchers explained. Attractive men and women, referred to as “Chads” and “Stacys,” are at the top; “normies” are in the middle; and incels occupy the bottom.
“Those occupying the upper echelons are the subject of both scorn and envy by incels,” the 2022 paper said. “They lament Chads for hoarding all of the women while also wishing to attain this status.”
Meanwhile, Stacys are “are the objects of incels’ sexual desires, but are repeatedly dehumanized in incel forums as being superficial, daft, selfish, and manipulative.”
Despite incels’ hostility and mistrust towards women, researchers found that incels feel sexually entitled to women — more so than non-incel men.
What is the manosphere?
According to USA Today, “The manosphere is a digital collection of websites, videos and forums that promote male supremacy and advocate for traditional gender roles.”
Men that occupy the manosphere believe that women are to blame for what they perceive as problems with modern society. “Incels are the most violent sector of the manosphere,” according to ADL.
Creators in the manosphere, from bloggers to podcasters, “provide a pipeline for men seeking advice about romantic rejection, physical self-esteem and economic insecurity to fall into radicalism and misogyny,” according to USA Today.
Critics of the manosphere have raised concerns about its ties to white supremacy, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and antisemitism, the article said.
Popular figures in the manosphere include social media personality Andrew Tate; Myron Gaines, author of “Why Women Deserve Less” and co-host of the “Fresh & Fit” podcast; and Adin Ross, Tate’s longtime collaborator, according to the Guardian.
Is incel ideology dangerous?
Participating in the manosphere or adopting incel ideology doesn’t often result in acts of violence, like it does in “Adolescence.”
But, according to CNN, “several incidents of mass violence” in the past decade have been linked to related beliefs.
Examples include “Elliot Rodger, who went on a stabbing and shooting rampage in Isla Vista, California, in 2014 (and) was a self-described incel” and a van attack in Toronto in 2018, per CNN.
“The US Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center said in 2022 that it would further investigate incel ideologies, while citing the 2018 case of a 40-year-old man who attacked a hot yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, killing two women and injuring four others before shooting himself," CNN reported.
How worried should you be?
Young men — young boys especially — can easily be introduced to incel or manosphere ideology on social media.
Zero Tolerance, “a Scottish charity working to end men’s violence against women,” wrote, “As boys scroll through their social media feeds, algorithms ensure they come across content promoting a dangerous world view.”
They continued, “Understanding how (the manosphere) weaponizes everyday misogyny to radicalise boys has become crucial for parents, educators, and anyone concerned about young people’s welfare to understand.”
One way incel accounts target young men? By using self-improvement, according to the Guardian.
Many TikTok accounts reframe their misogynistic ideas into “pseudo-scientific theories about self-improvement and attractiveness” to avoid getting banned on TikTok, according to a study.
“These mechanisms reframe overtly toxic, misogynistic and extremist rhetoric into socially palatable discourses of self-improvement and biological and racial essentialism, enabling its diffusion into broader digital spaces,” researchers Anda Iulia Solea and Dr Lisa Sugiura wrote.
Experts encourage worried parents to become more aware of the content children are consuming and to have regular discussions about what they’re seeing online — and the potential risks.
Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan, the Met Police‘s Prevent co-ordinator in London, told the BBC, “While it is still only a very small proportion of young people who may actually be affected, parents must not be fooled into thinking that this is something that only happens to others.”
Is ‘Adolescence’ realistic?
“Adolescence” shows how far-reaching — and yet subtle — incel and manosphere ideology can be.
As Detective Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) digs through Jamie’s social media and online interactions, his son, Adam, who attends Jamie’s school, tells Luke that he doesn’t understand.
“You’re not reading what they’re doing,” Adam tells his father. “What’s happening.”
Adam explains that students use specific emojis as a code. A dynamite emoji means red pill — a very common incel term — which he says is “a call to action by the manosphere.”
He shows Jamie’s Instagram to his dad, noting that Katie used a dynamite emoji when commenting on Jamie’s post. By doing this, Adam explains, Katie was calling Jamie an incel.
Adam also cites a very common stat that’s spread among the manosphere: 80% of women only go after 20% of men. You have to trick women, Adam explains, or “you’ll never get them in a normal way.”
These interactions and ideas might seem harmless in isolation, but as experts point out — and the writers of “Adolescence” illustrate — they can be a gateway to more misogynistic, extreme or violent ideology and beliefs.
Leaders in Britain are taking the potential threat of misogyny and toxic masculinity seriously. As the Deseret News previously reported, “Adolescence” will be streamed in schools across Britain in hopes of educating teens about the risks of adopting problematic beliefs.
Jack Thorne, who co-wrote the series along with Graham, told The Associated Press that streaming the show in British schools went “beyond our expectations.”
He said, “We hope it’ll lead to teachers talking to the students, but what we really hope is it’ll lead to students talking amongst themselves.”