
Oneitiscel
Failed Jestermaxxx LDAR Extraordinaire
★★★★★
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2018
- Posts
- 4,932
https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/mother-son-incel/
My kids are now 3, 5, 11 and 13 years old. At least when it comes to the older two, I have to admit: I’ve lost track of what’s going on in their heads. I’ve recently come to understand that, like millions of other young people, they are exposed to racist and homophobic slurs, misogynistic propaganda and far-right influencers.
How wrong we were became clear when my partner and our 13-year-old son watched Adolescence together. The British series, about a teenager who stabs to death a classmate, is one of Netflix’s biggest hits, with more than 60 million views. For weeks, the global media focused on the real subject of the show: the misogyny embedded in what’s called incel culture. Incel refers to men who are involuntarily celibate because, in their view, women are only interested in stronger, wealthier men and so leave them out.
The series also shows how the manosphere influences young people, especially boys. This is a loose anti-feminist network of forums and TikTok accounts that spreads misogynistic, chauvinistic, and transphobic content.
“Did you know your son knows who Andrew Tate is?” my partner asked me a few days ago. I had no clue. I’d been traveling for work for several weeks and had assumed my son would tell me about something like that. First I was shocked, then I started to reflect. There was something almost ironic about it: I’m the mother who reads from her feminist novels at public events and urges others to watch over their sons and daughters
I asked him about it right away, only to hear that Tate is “cool,” and I should just chill. The luxury cars and private jets Tate flaunts online were, in my son’s view, a lifestyle to admire. Then we talked about Adolescence, and why the boy in the series murdered his classmate.
“What do you think?” I asked him. My son thought for a moment. “I think she bullied him,” he said. I had to take a deep breath. He hadn’t understood the point in the series at all.
He’s 13, and he still can’t make the connection between hateful speech and the incel content he sees online.
My son tells me that girls are labeled “baddies” if they spend too much time with boys. It’s basically a modern version of calling someone a slut. And whenever I get upset, I’m told it’s just a joke that grown-ups don’t get. But it still matters.