Netflix’s “Adolescence” and the Alpha Male Syndrome
There are times when, in a world of constant content creation, a piece of literature or film emerges with the power to start a debate and shed light on something ignored or brushed off by society. Netflix’s new miniseries Adolescence has managed to do just that. The story revolves around a 13-year-old seemingly normal schoolboy who is accused and then convicted of murdering his fellow classmate after she turned him down. As the story progresses, the series delves deeper into establishing the motive for the murder. Eventually, it comes to light that Jamie (the murderer) was allegedly part of incel culture and was influenced by the ideas of the manosphere and figures like Andrew Tate. But what is this Tate phenomenon, and why is it so dangerous? Let’s take a look.
With the global prominence of neoliberalism and hyper-commodification, alienation is on the rise, with traditional community safety nets breaking down and hyper-individualism being the main ideology propagated by corporations and imperial institutions. The result is an entire generation finding meaning and a sense of self in purchasing commodities and striving to be different from everyone else. As social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook gained global users, this phenomenon grew even larger, with everyone showcasing the best version of themselves online, creating a pervasive sense of “not being enough” in the populace. This gave rise to a series of problems such as the loneliness epidemic, substance addiction, extremely low self-esteem among the younger population, and the incel culture and manosphere.
Incel culture is defined as an online subculture of predominantly young men who express frustration, resentment, and misogyny over their lack of romantic and sexual relationships. Incels believe they are systematically denied sexual access to women due to factors beyond their control, such as their physical appearance, genetics, or societal norms.
This led to the rise of “Alpha Male” influencers and figures. The whole idea behind these new masculine role models is that feminism and other progressive movements have damaged what it means to be a man—often accompanied by phrases like “Men used to go to war.” Due to these movements and advancements in women’s rights, males today, they argue, are ostracized by society, blamed for everything, and unsupported. To reclaim their former glory, men need to adopt a certain set of behaviors and views, also known as “taking the red pill”—a Matrix reference used in the manosphere for men who become aware of their supposed victimization and vow to take revenge. These influencers encourage men to become rich, powerful, and emotionless by any means necessary. They propagate the 80/20 rule, claiming that 80% of women are attracted to only 20% of men, signaling to young boys that they are not enough—that they must look a certain way, earn a specific amount, and attain a particular status in society to be considered attractive. These men and boys are angry, and they seek to revert gender roles and progress in women’s rights to their past state—where men were the providers and patriarchs of the household and women were caregivers and passive figures.
This movement benefits these influencers and the status quo in two ways. Firstly, we are witnessing the global rise of the far-right, with figures like Donald Trump getting elected a second time. Trump can be considered the poster child of this movement, projecting himself as a strong masculine figure who not only embodies all the traditional values of being a “man” but also actively wages a war against the “radical left” and progressive values under the banner of making America great again. These far-right groups actively engage disillusioned men with the message that the reason for their failures in life is women, immigrants, communists, etc., and that by joining them, they can reclaim their lost greatness. They portray themselves as messianic figures who will rid their countries of all perceived evils.
Secondly, this movement promotes the idea that being successful means being rich and that women are gold diggers who are only attracted to wealthy men. This has led to the rise of content creators known as “tech bros” and “finance bros,” who hyper-fixate on influencing young men to become millionaires. They introduce online courses worth thousands of dollars, promoting dubious money-making schemes that supposedly teach young men how to become millionaires or billionaires. In reality, they merely perpetuate a culture of materialism—where success is equated with the ability to buy luxury items—and encourage an exhausting work ethic that prioritizes money above all else. Recently, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg commented that Facebook needs to hire more “masculine men,” implying that true masculinity is defined by how much one can work without complaint and how much wealth one accumulates—echoing the ideology that men in the past supposedly followed. This movement ultimately benefits mega-corporations by creating a vast workforce willing to labor for minimal wages while also consuming content from these hyper-masculine influencers, leading to further disillusionment and alienation.
This belief system results in extreme misogyny and, in extreme cases, violence against women. According to statistics, crimes against women are on the rise globally. We are witnessing an increase in hatred toward women, from excessive social media trolling and bullying to rape and murder. In March 2024, a young man in the UK was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend, sister, and mother with a crossbow and knife. The murderer confessed to watching hundreds of Andrew Tate’s videos before killing the women in his life. Similarly, a young man in Pakistan killed his fasting mother because she was late in preparing his breakfast. These are just a few of the many cases occurring daily worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for action to address this widespread issue.
Adolescence has managed to spark this conversation. Following the premiere of the miniseries, British MPs are debating legislation to combat the rising hatred among young boys. However, in a country like ours—where even existing laws are not implemented correctly, where Punjab has become a hotspot for rape cases in recent years, and where Pakistan currently ranks as the second-worst country in the world in terms of gender equality—there remains a significant question mark over how serious and prepared our government, schools, and society as a whole are in addressing this issue.
The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Spine Times.
Qazi Muhammad Shahryar
The writer holds a bachelor's degree in Public Health from Punjab University and is currently pursuing an MPhil in Public Policy at FCCU.
