Toxic Masculinity: ‘Adolescence’ and College Years

By Lizzie Rush
Staff writer
IG: @liz.rush

Netflix’s new mini series, “Adolescence”, was released to the world on March 13. The series follows a young boy in the U.K. named Jamie who is arrested in the first episode on suspicion of murder of a young girl in his class.

The show created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne has been making headlines for its cultural impact and expression of toxic masculinity, which begs the question, how do the students of Hutchinson Community College feel about toxic masculinity?

According to HutchCC sociology professor, Kim Newberry, toxic masculinity isn’t a new concept in society, we’ve only just given it a name.

“Now we are witnessing it and maybe even calling it out. It’s the toxic part that we’re really starting to take note of,” Newberry said.

Just like portrayed in the show, Newberry said she believes that toxic masculinity can be harmful for anyone involved. She shared that it can especially be harmful for men because of the way they perceive and express their emotions.

Hutchinson freshman, Preston Reed, said he believes that toxic masculinity can be especially harmful for young boys growing up.

“I think it affects men growing up because if you see it’s wrong, then it’s like you’re weird for not going along with it,” Reed said.

Recently the U.K prime minister, Keir Starmer, has made the show available to watch in schools as he believes it’ll help halt any early signs of toxic masculinity in school aged children. Reed, having seen the show, said this could be a great idea.

“It teaches you good lessons about how to deal with unhealthy relationships or unhealthy environments in school,” Reed said.

The alpha male content presence was a large plot line in the show. The main character Jamie is an avid Andrew Tate watcher. Tate is known for making controversial manispheric videos that a lot of young men look up to. However, over the years many concerns have been raised about his ideologies and if it is safe for young kids to watch.

Haven sophomore, Mariah Piña said, “Alpha male creators push a toxic ideology that is not helpful for today’s society. It causes more harm, especially to young listeners because they pick up on bad traits to live by.”

To add to the conversation on how toxic masculinity is perceived by the public, Haven sophomore Clayton Shingleton said, “I think it affects the public perception of men in a negative way. Toxic masculinity makes people think that men have higher expectations of themselves, which can lead to men becoming selfish and insecure.”

When asked how she thinks society can steer away from toxic masculinity, Newberry said, “It’s fine to be masculine, but protect each other. We’re all in this together. Why can’t you be strong, kind, and masculine?”

Adolescence has become the fourth most watched series on Netflix with over 114 million views in its month long release.

The show has raised concerns about toxic masculinity, especially in school aged kids. Adolescence aims to stop toxic masculinity before more than just toxic men get hurt.

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