Netflix hit Adolescence has ignited conversations across the world about contemporary masculinity, online radicalisation and violence against women and girls. It has also raised questions about the interventions needed at home, in schools and by the government to counter the seductive power of harmful content on social media.
The series suggests the key to solving some of these issues is parents and teachers understanding the "manosphere". This is a collection of websites, influencers and communities where men talk about "men’s issues". But, as I’ve explored in my research, anti-women and anti-feminist sentiment also prevails.
In an interview about the series, Adolescence writer Jack Thorne says "Jamie is not a simple product of the manosphere".
"He is a product of parents that didn’t see, a school that couldn’t care and a brain that didn’t stop him. Put 3000 kids in the same situation and they wouldn’t do what he did.
"Yet spend any time on forums on 4chan or Reddit, spend any time on most social media platforms and you end up, quite quickly, in some dark spaces. Parents can try to regulate this, schools can stop mobile phone access but more needs to be done."
Successive UK governments have attempted to counter online misogyny and violence against women and girls through legislation and public education schemes. But what would really work?
Adolescence attaches much importance to language and emojis used by teens to obscure meaning, although there is undoubtedly some creative license behind the depictions of the emojis used to mean "incel" (involuntary celibate).
But focusing on "slang parents and teachers need to know" is misguided. Every generation finds ways of talking about their lives in coded ways, and teen language is frequently tied to moral panics about what it potentially hides. Research has shown that regular, open and supportive conversations between parents and children are much more important.
Britain’s prime minister has suggested Adolescence should be shown in schools. Netflix then made the series available to secondary schools across the UK.
In December, education minister Bridget Phillipson announced new teaching guidance about incel culture and online misogyny. She argued it was "vital to recognise the signs of these dangerous ideas as early as possible".
It’s encouraging to see the government take these issues seriously, but there are pitfalls. Teachers are under substantial pressure, struggling with workload and staffing. How many have the capacity to lead meaningful and supportive discussions, especially with limited training on these topics?
Some research suggests female teachers encounter explicit misogyny in their classrooms. This makes it even more difficult to facilitate conversations about gender and violence. Sessions on countering misogyny also pose the danger of alienating boys, making them feel like they are being vilified for the actions of other men and boys.
Ultimately, interventions to reduce gender-based violence and misogyny need a "whole-school" approach that integrates gender equality across the curriculum, rather than isolating it within relationships, sex and health education classes. This content could also be covered in initial teacher training courses.
My own work on A-level English curricula also offers suggestions. Improving digital literacy is key to helping young men identify the mechanisms of manipulation in the content they consume and resist the siren call of manosphere influences. This can encourage young men to rethink their assumptions about gender politics and masculinity, with the ultimate aim of reducing gender-based violence.
Perhaps the trickiest debate concerns the regulation of media and technology. Thorne has backed the UK following Australia’s approach to ban social media for under-16s, and some argue the government should ban smartphones for teenagers entirely. Experts say that such bans could do more harm than good.
The UK’s new online safety laws may go some way to holding social media companies to account for moderating illegal or harmful content and algorithms through fines. This covers intimate image abuse, cyberflashing and some other forms of online misogyny, but there are likely to be gaps when it comes to male supremacist and manosphere content.
There are serious concerns about how the law will affect free speech and undermine privacy online.
Adolescence has started some important conversations among parents, teens and politicians. But to make a difference in how young men navigate the world, how they deal with rejection, and how they negotiate the difficulties that life throws at them, these conversations need to be backed up with investment and concrete action. — theconversation.com
■ Robert Lawson is an associate Professor in Sociolinguistics at Birmingham City University.
