Rachel Parker noticed a shift in her son Spencer’s attitude when he was just 11 years old. Now 15, he once repeated things he had heard online, including negative views about women.
One day, Spencer casually told Rachel, “women are gold diggers.” Surprised, she asked where he had heard that. He explained that he had seen men discussing it in online videos.
Spencer initially watched gaming content, but over time, different types of videos started appearing. As he watched one, more similar content followed, leading him deeper into those beliefs.
Rachel noticed other concerning statements. Spencer talked about women “not respecting themselves” and mentioned OnlyFans, even though he didn’t fully understand what it was.
At one point, he said he was tired of men always being blamed. This caught Rachel off guard because she had always raised him to be aware of gender equality.
Spencer also mentioned watching Andrew Tate. Rachel never suppressed his personality, so she was shocked that he found a sense of community in such spaces.
Spencer grew up surrounded by women—his mother, grandmothers, and aunts. Yet, he was adopting beliefs that went against his own experiences. Rachel wondered if she had done something wrong but realized ignoring it wasn’t an option.
The idea of being ‘red pilled’ comes from the movie The Matrix, where a character takes a red pill to see reality differently. The Netflix series Adolescence explores this idea in the context of gender views.
Rachel and Spencer watched the first two episodes together. Spencer, who is usually on his phone, was fully engaged.
Recently, Spencer has started challenging his friends when they use disrespectful language about women. He now sees Andrew Tate as an exaggerated figure of the ‘red pill’ movement. He once admired him, but now finds his content embarrassing.
One day, while gaming with friends, one of them used a disrespectful term for women. Spencer immediately told him, “You don’t talk about your mom like that. She deserves respect.”
Rachel was proud. It showed how much he had grown.
Spencer now focuses on school instead of worrying about social expectations. He sees past the online narratives and thinks it’s embarrassing that people believe them so easily.
