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Lisa Lim

Few who watched the recent four-part crime drama Adolescence on Netflix would have remained unmoved – whether by the powerful acting, the one-shot episodes, the tragedy of a teen murder, or the disturbing attitudes embodied in language.
Many delved further – the terms “manosphere” and “incel” saw a spike in online searches following the show’s release.
“Manosphere” combines “man-” with “-sphere” to refer to a particular area of interest and the people associated with it, the word modelled after the coinage “blogosphere”.
It comprises a conglomerate of groups and communities that create, consume and distribute content online aimed at men and boys that is regarded collectively as promoting ultraconservative models of masculinity and espousing anti-feminist views, typically involving misogyny and associated with far-right ideologies.

While the term emerged online in 2009, the manosphere’s broader ideology has deep roots in 1970s movements advocating men’s rights, a backlash to feminism. Major manosphere communities include:

“Men’s Rights Activists” (MRAs), who advocate political changes to benefit men; their activism, however, consists of harassment and abuse of feminists and other female public figures.


“Men Going Their Own Way” (MGTOW), whose members hold that society is rigged against men and a system it is impossible to change, hence they advocate abstaining from relationships with women.


“Incels” – a portmanteau of “involuntary celibate” and a word originally popularised in the 1990s by a woman’s website – now encompasses the online subculture of young men who are frustrated by their lack of sexual experience, for which they blame women.


“Pick-Up Artists” (PUAs) are built around “game” – that is, techniques, strategies and mindsets that help men be more successful in attracting women. Many of these involve objectifying women and promoting harassment techniques, most notably “negging”.

“Negging” – from “to neg”, itself formed from clipping “negative” or “negation” – is the practice of ignoring, undermining or insulting a person, especially a woman, who one finds attractive in the belief that lowering their self-confidence will make them more interested in and receptive to the “negger”.

Several other words and phrases have come to be closely associated with the manosphere.
“Blue pill” and “red pill” are symbols originating in the 1999 science fiction film The Matrix, and represent a choice between remaining in a state of blissful ignorance or accepting a painful reality.
Also adopted by alt-right groups, the concept of the red pill is a central tenet of the manosphere: “taking the red pill” abbreviated as “TRP”, or being “a redpiller” or “redpilled – the metaphor showing great productivity in word formation processes – describes the awakening of men to the supposed truth about the nature of women and feminism, all from a misogynistic perspective.

Conversely, the blue pill symbolises the ignorance of those who have not adopted the manosphere mindset; those who present opposing arguments or refute its views are “bluepillers”.
The “80/20 rule”, with origins in an economic theory, the Pareto principle named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, postulates that 80 per cent of outcomes are derived from 20 per cent of causes, the latter known as “the vital few”.
Applied across various domains, from time management to sport to diets, it has also been posited in the modern dating marketplace, the idea being that only 20 per cent of men – the most attractive, wealthy and socially adept – are successful in garnering the romantic attention of 80 per cent of women, thus leaving the remaining 80 per cent of men with no chance of a relationship.
Incels have co-opted this as a pseudoscientific explanation for dating imbalances between men and women, and, as a consequence, to fuel anger towards women for being picky and rejecting them.

These concepts, along with terms such as “alpha males/Chads” and “beta males/cucks” and other language use, including emojis – which a future column will explore – serve to normalise toxic behaviours and frame them as necessary for manosphere communities, which can lead to violent outcomes.
Language matters. Parents and educators will do well to be attuned to the words adolescents use, and take the opportunity to facilitate open conversations about such issues. Your columnist certainly did.


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Sex and relationships

After Netflix’s Adolescence, incels, the manosphere, negging and the 80/20 rule explained

Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller in Adolescence. The Netflix limited series introduced viewers to the language of contemporary toxic masculinity. Photo: courtesy of Netflix

Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay (centre) play police detectives investigating a schoolgirl’s death in Adolescence. Photo: Netflix via AP

In Adolescence, Detective Inspector Bascombe, played by Ashley Walters, comes face to face with schoolboy crime suspect Ryan Kowalsky, played by Kaine Davies. Photo: courtesy of Netflix. 

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in a still from The Matrix Resurrections. The manosphere has borrowed the concept of the red pill and blue pill from The Matrix films. Photo: Warner Bros. 

Christine Tremarco and Stephen Graham play Jamie’s parents in Adolescence. They struggle to understand what led their son to kill. The show offers parents who see the show with their children an opportunity to talk about the use of language. Photo: Netflix via AP

Trump order on English as official US language ignores human right to use one’s own tongue

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the United States. Photo: EPA-EFE/Pool

Signs in Chinese and English are displayed in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Some 350 languages are spoken in the United States. Photo: AP

A sign in English and Spanish outside a polling location in Miami Beach, Florida. Some 43 million people in America speak Spanish. Photo: Getty Images

An engraving, based on a painting, of a Spanish expeditionary force under Hernando de Soto arriving at the Mississippi River in 1541. The first European colonisers in what is now the United States spoke Spanish. Photo: Getty Images

Spain reflects on ‘failures’ of justice system as it struggles to curb the scourge of femicide

A woman protests against the increased number of femicides in Spain on January 27, 2023. Photo: AP 

Activists hold a wreath reading “Not one less” during a protest against domestic violence in Madrid. Photo: AFP 

People march to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Barcelona in 2021. Photo: AFP 

Who is Andrew Tate, and why was the ‘king of toxic masculinity’ arrested in Romania?

Andrew Tate is led away by police after being arrested in the Ilfov area, north of Bucharest, in Romania on Thursday. Photo: Observator Antena 1 via AP

A screenshot shows a tweet by Andrew Tate in which he brags to climate activist Greta Thunberg about his 33 cars with a photo of himself filing up a Ducati sports car at a petrol pump. Photo: Twitter via AFP

Andrew Tate (left) and Ryan Ruckledge are seen during the “Big Brother” eviction at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, England in June 2016. Photo: TNS

Eugen Vidineac, lawyer for Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, speaks to the media outside court in Bucharest, Romania on Friday. Photo: AP

Travel influencer couple on horror India gang rape and Taliban interrogation during epic 6-year motorbike trip

Travel influencers Fernanda (right) and Vicente take a break in Spiti Valley, in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, during their six-year motorbike trip. The couple open up about Fernanda’s gang rape in India and other experiences during their trip, including being interrogated by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Konya, Turkey. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda with a rented motorbike in Sri Lanka. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Jodhpur, India. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente camp near Kalut, in Iran’s Hormozgan province. Photo: Instagram @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vincente at the Khunjerab Pass, in the mountains on the border of Pakistan and China. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda makes friends in Rajasthan, India. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Samarra, Iraq. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda in Kuwait, approaching Saudi Arabia. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Cappadocia, Turkey. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente near Passu, a small village in northern Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Lifestyle

Family & Relationships

The Netflix TV series introduced many to the language of toxic masculinity, from incel to red pills and blue pills. But misogyny is not new


The Netflix TV series introduced many to the language of toxic masculinity, from incel to red pills and blue pills. But misogyny is not new.


Netflix

TV shows and streaming video

Gender

Women and gender

Language Matters

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

After Netflix’s Adolescence, incels, the manosphere, negging and the 80/20 rule explained

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Netflix TV series introduced many to the language of toxic masculinity, from incel to red pills and blue pills. But misogyny is not new

The Netflix TV series introduced many to the language of toxic masculinity, from incel to red pills and blue pills. But misogyny is not new