The glossary of terms from hit Netflix drama Adolescence has got everyone talking.\u00a0<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Grazia<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/4e0a1e8e-fcbe-402b-be27-48a6be89a572.jpg” alt=”Kim and Kanye in 2020.” title_text=”4e0a1e8e-fcbe-402b-be27-48a6be89a572″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Whether you have teenagers at home or not, Adolescence<\/em>, the new Netflix drama about a 13-year-old boy charged with the murder of his classmate shines a light on a very real epidemic of knife crime and the way in which teenagers are being radicalised online.<\/p>\n It also introduces many of its viewers to \u2018the manosphere\u2019 \u2013 the group of online forums, blogs and websites that promote masculinity, misogyny and opposition to feminism. What makes the allure of this cult so difficult to understand is not just its violent rhetoric towards women, but the language of emojis that many of its members use to communicate.<\/p>\n Little did we know the kidney bean emoji means more than an ingredient and a yellow heart is not just a symbol of endearment. Adolescence<\/em> has foregrounded a subversive language of emojis \u2013 and parents, teachers, siblings and friends should all take note.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-20-at-16.27.59.png” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] The red pill<\/strong><\/p>\n In episode two, which is set in Jamie and Katie\u2019s school, Detective Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) attempts to decipher what their social media correspondence really means. His son Adam (Amari Bacchus) then pulls him aside to explain that he has been reading the conversations all wrong. The red pill emoji, he explains, means \u2018I see the truth\u2019. \u2018It\u2019s a call to action by the manosphere.\u2019<\/p>\n The term is inspired by the 1999 film The Matrix<\/em> where the red pill symbolises an awakening to the truth. In the context of the manosphere, it refers to the \u2018truth\u2019 behind gender dynamics and the so-called \u2018real\u2019 nature of women\u2019s behaviour and their dating preferences.<\/p>\n As researchers Megan Kelly, Alex DiBranco and Julia DeCook write, \u2018Red pillers awaken to the \u2018truth\u2019 that socially, economically and sexually, men are at the whims of women\u2019s (and feminists\u2019) power and desires.\u2019<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-20-at-16.30.06.png” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] The 100 emoji<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam then explains that the 100 emoji refers to the \u201880\/20 rule\u2019. He says, \u201980 per cent of women are attracted to 20 per cent of men. Women, you have to trick them because you\u2019ll never get them in a normal way. 80 per cent of women are cut off\u2026 she\u2019s saying he\u2019s an incel.\u2019<\/p>\n DI Bascombe then asks how Jamie could be an incel (involuntary celibate) when he\u2019s 13 years old and Adam says, \u2018She\u2019s saying he always will be.\u2019<\/p>\n It comes from the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto\u2019s principle that 80 per cent of consequences come from 20 per cent of causes \u2013 noting that 80 per cent of Italy\u2019s land was owned by 20 per cent of its people.<\/p>\n In the context of incels, it means the majority of men are romantically unsuccessful. The rule is used as a warning about the damaging effects of the current dating scene and increased competitiveness in online dating. It implies that women are \u2018picky\u2019 and that they only \u2018date up\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-20-at-16.32.16.png” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Dynamite emoji<\/strong><\/p>\n Another emoji explained in the series is the dynamite explosion, which is described as an \u2018exploding red pill\u2019, meaning that someone has radical incel beliefs.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-20-at-16.33.37.png” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Kidney bean<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Adolescence, the kidney bean emoji is used when someone wants to self-identify as an incel. It is deployed in a similar way to the coffee bean emoji, which has been popularised on platforms like 4Chan and Reddit as a way of disparaging women and reinforcing harmful stereotypes.<\/p>\n Based on an older meme on manosphere forums, the coffee emoji or the phrase \u2018women coffee\u2019 is sometimes used to mock women. Apparently, it is from a game called Team Fortress 2 where two men drink tea and say \u2018women\u2019 and then laugh. It is therefore used to encourage other men to laugh at a woman or something she is doing.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Other terms to be aware of<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Chads and Stacys:<\/strong><\/p>\n Chads are the \u2018ultimate alpha\u2019 \u2013 the most masculine, powerful and sexually attractive man who attract the most \u2018Stacys\u2019. While Stacys are a feminine ideal \u2013 attractive, obedient and unattainable women who only date \u2018Chads\u2019.<\/p>\n Cuck:<\/strong><\/p>\n Shortened from cuckold, a cuck is a man whose wife has been unfaithful (first used in 1250). It is associated with \u2018humiliation pornography\u2019 in which a man derives sexual pleasure from watching his partner have sex with another man. The term is most commonly used as an insult because \u2018allowing\u2019 your partner to have sex with someone else goes against the heteronormative notions of male sexuality and ownership.<\/p>\n (N)awalt:<\/strong><\/p>\n (N)awalt means (not) all women are like that. The more common form is \u2018awalt\u2019 to describe the negative stereotypes of women. Awalt suggests that women are vapid, insecure, promiscuous and driven by emotions instead of rationality. It emphasises that men are everything women are not \u2013 moral, rational, intelligent, loyal, honourable and individualistic. \u00a0<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>Netflix<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are these emojis partly responsible for radicalising a generation of teenagers? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7998"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8028,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7998\/revisions\/8028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}