{"id":287,"date":"2025-05-19T00:57:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T00:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/?p=287"},"modified":"2025-05-19T00:57:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T00:57:02","slug":"analyzing-netflixs-adolescence-from-a-feminist-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/?p=287","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing Netflix\u2019s\u00a0Adolescence\u00a0from a Feminist Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"798\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-18-at-19.42.32-798x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-18-at-19.42.32-798x1024.png 798w, https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-18-at-19.42.32-234x300.png 234w, https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-18-at-19.42.32-768x986.png 768w, https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-18-at-19.42.32.png 938w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Adolescence<\/em> is a British mini-series that follows the aftermath of a horrifying event: a 13-year-old boy named Jamie stabs a 13-year-old girl at a parking lot. Through interviews, flashbacks, and confessional monologues, the series slowly peels back the layers of Jamie\u2019s life, exposing the toxic online influences, misogynistic peer culture, and deeply flawed adult systems that failed both him and the girl he attacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Adolescence | Official Trailer | Netflix\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wk5OxqtpBR4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Depiction of the Victim<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The portrayal of the victim in <em>Adolescence<\/em> is particularly striking. She is not flawless\u2014and that\u2019s what makes her so compelling. Unlike many mainstream TV shows or films, which tend to present female victims as pure, innocent, and morally perfect, this series resists that trope. In popular culture, there\u2019s a persistent tendency to portray girl victims in a way that makes it easy for the audience to feel sympathy: they are often quiet, kind, and never make mistakes. But in <em>Adolescence<\/em>, the victim is more complex. She sends nudes to boys, she mocks Jamie, and she rejects him shortly before he attacks her. These actions don\u2019t make her less of a victim\u2014they make her more human. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Too often, media narratives default to depicting women either as goddesses or virgins\u2014symbols of unattainable purity who exist to win the audience\u2019s tears. For me, this trope is not only cheesy but also lazy. It limits women\u2019s complexity, turning them into symbols rather than people. <em>Adolescence<\/em> challenges this pattern by allowing the victim to be flawed, messy, and real. In doing so, it forces the viewer to confront a much harder truth: women don\u2019t have to be perfect to deserve protection, justice, and empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite not fitting the mold of the \u201cideal victim,\u201d she remains a clear target of the toxic masculinity and incel ideologies that shape the world around her. She internalized the ideals that incel masculinity expects from women\u2014seeking male attention and even sending nudes in an attempt to gain validation. Her behavior reflects complicated realities of adolescence in a digital age\u2014where girls are simultaneously objectified, shamed, and expected to perform maturity and desirability before they\u2019re even ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reflection <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The show paints a disturbing picture of how today\u2019s digital environment\u2014especially platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram\u2014shapes adolescent behavior. Boys, in particular, are shown growing up within incel communities and Red Pill ideology, absorbing messages that equate dominance with value and women with prizes to be won or conquered. Girls, meanwhile, are forced to navigate a world where their worth is constantly evaluated by their appearance and perceived &#8220;rizz&#8221;, even in middle school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of forming healthy relationships, these teens compare each other based on warped ideas of masculinity and desirability. The belief that &#8220;80% of women are only attracted to 20% of men&#8221;\u2014a common trope in incel circles\u2014is repeated in the show, revealing how boys internalize rejection as personal failure and categorize themselves as &#8220;losers&#8221; if they don\u2019t receive validation from girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One particularly powerful moment comes in Episode 3, where Jamie is sent to see a therapist. Rather than being able to maintain professional detachment, the therapist\u2014an adult woman with years of experience\u2014is visibly rattled by Jamie\u2019s presence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Adolescence: You do not tell me when to sit down - Look at me now\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zYJKq17GpEc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s so striking about this scene is how it flips the usual dynamic: a grown professional is <em>afraid<\/em> of a child. It\u2019s a jarring reminder that the ideologies kids absorb online are not just edgy jokes or teenage angst\u2014they can manifest as real violence and emotional detachment. Jamie doesn\u2019t seem like a monster, which makes him even scarier. He\u2019s a product of a society that normalizes emotional suppression in boys and romanticizes male dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another subtle but telling moment is when a girl punches a boy who was involved in covering up Jamie\u2019s actions. Another male student teases him, saying, \u201cYou got beaten by a girl? What a sausage.\u201d That casual comment reveals how toxic masculinity is deeply embedded in youth culture: being beaten by a girl is seen not just as a loss, but as emasculation. This line encapsulates how shame and gender roles are enforced even through jokes, and how boys are taught to fear vulnerability or defeat\u2014especially at the hands of girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Adolescence is a British mini-series that follows the aftermath of a horrifying event: a 13-year-old boy named Jamie stabs a 13-year-old girl at a parking lot. Through interviews, flashbacks, and confessional monologues, the series slowly peels back the layers of Jamie\u2019s life, exposing the toxic online influences, misogynistic peer culture, and deeply flawed adult [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rgsinpop.2025.cmoore.sites.carleton.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}