‘Kids are isolated from each other but joined by screens that then connect them to toxic cultures’

The critically-acclaimed and wildly popular British Netflix drama “Adolescence” is offering a new generation of storytelling with very thought-provoking themes that force viewers to question many things about the world we live in and the values that we’ve been embracing without giving much thought. To offer in-depth perspective of the recurring theme of toxic masculinity, France 24’s Delano D’Souza is pleased to welcome Jack Halberstam, celebrated author, Professor of Gender Studies and English and Director of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality; David Feinson Professor of Humanities. Halberstam asserts that teenage boys don’t need to be managed. Parents need to be more in tune with the “messages in the culture that are being distributed through all the banal networks that we know of, whether it’s the social media platforms or the news”, rife with contradictory information about culture. Halberstam warns us that the dangers we face are right before our very eyes. They are often social and cultural norms that we don’t tend to question, we just accept it as is, from the “potentially dangerous” and outdated nuclear family model and the resurgence of the patriarchal culture to the “authoritarian capitalism and toxic masculinity” fuelled by Fundamentalism Christianity. Halberstam slams “out-of-control” social media platforms run by plutocrats and billionaires. Regardless of age, Halberstam warns we need to break free from the suffocating grip of social media.