“80% of women are attracted to 20% of men. Women — you must trick them because you’ll never get them the normal way.”
This is a line from Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy in Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning series “Adolescence,” who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. The most disturbing aspect of the show isn’t the murder itself or Jamie’s justification, but instead, that the murderer could easily be someone you know.
The show exposes how red pill content causes teenagers to normalize violent misogyny in the real world. Modern-day social media reinforces the inferiority of women, creating a culture of toxicity.
Escaping this trap is nearly impossible. A 2024 study from the University of Hull in England found that 94.2% of respondents had encountered misogynistic content on TikTok, with 97.5% seeing objectifying content of women.
Abuse against women is often connected to this same misogynistic ideology. A PubMed article found perpetrators of sexual violence reported significantly higher levels of ambivalent sexism and traits such as psychopathy compared to community samples. Another study, from American and Canadian researchers, indicated patriarchal values reinforce men’s violence against women.
This perception confines women to traditional roles, framing them as weaker counterparts to men. Unfortunately, Lab is not immune to the misogyny of the digital world.
When I ran for Student Council, multiple people told me that because of my gender I wouldn’t be as capable a leader as my male opponents. Viewing girls, even unconsciously, as less fit to take on a leadership role is an example of this misogynistic system, partly fueled by social media.
Research for the UK Parliament found these views can stem from watching misogynistic content online, an act that may not seem harmful but can result in severe behavior. The media we consume influences our beliefs, which becomes engrained into our minds and eventually behavior towards others.
I’ve had multiple experiences where classmates would not ask female peers for help because they viewed them as less capable or saw female teachers as not as good at their jobs as their male counterparts. This echoes certain types of content on social media, highlighting a connection between media consumption and belief system.
I constantly scroll through posts claiming, “Sexism doesn’t exist. Women are equal now.” The reality is, it’s not that sexism doesn’t exist. Rather, we are so accustomed to it that we simply live with it unconsciously. The only way to correct this is to confront the uncomfortable truth of your own unconscious biases and sexism to make way for change.
