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Jillian Turanovic had just worked out at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida when, the next day, an armed man walked in the studio door and began firing, killing two women and injuring several others before turning the gun on himself.

Turanovic was shaken and heartbroken. As a criminologist, she was also determined to learn more about what motivated the shooter, a 40-year-old man with a history of misogynistic views shared openly online.

Seven years later, Turanovic, co-director of the new Crime and Justice Center at CU Boulder, says extremist online misogyny is a growing threat, with more than 50,000 actively registered users of so-called ‘incel’ forums and to the largest one in the first three months of 2025.

Such forums serve as the centerpiece of the Netflix series "Adolescence," about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering a female classmate. The series won eight Emmys earlier this month and is now among the top streaming shows in the country.

Jillian Turanovic, associate professor of sociology

“The themes in this show—around young, vulnerable boys spending a lot of time online and ingesting this hateful rhetoric about women—are very real,” says Turanovic, an associate professor of sociology who recently published a report

Turanovic spoke with CU Boulder Today about what "Adolescence" gets right, how young men are uniquely vulnerable to online hate, and what parents can do.

What is an incel?

The term was coined by a woman in Canada in the 1990s who started the first involuntary celibate website as a self-help forum. But it got co-opted and evolved into a community of hate and anger directed at women. Involuntary celibates, or "incels," are individuals, almost exclusively male, who are unable to develop a romantic or sexual relationship despite desiring one. The concept gained notoriety in 2014 after 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people, including two sorority members, in Isla Vista, California, near the University of California, Santa Barbara. In the months leading up to the attack, he produced a manifesto spouting incel ideology, and he has become glorified as a saint in the most concerning reaches of this subculture.

What is the 'incelosphere'?

It is one small part of the broader internet culture known as the "manosphere." Common underlying rhetoric across the manosphere is that if men are experiencing problems, women are to blame and it views women’s equality and liberation as threatening. The incelosphere is a smaller subset rooted in feeling alienated and rejected by women.

The show talks about the 80/20 rule. What is this?

One thing that's really alarming about incel-based rhetoric is that it sends a message to men and boys that if they're not liked or desired by women, it's something that is biologically predetermined. This "rule" is the idea that 80% of women are attracted to 20% of men, and if you are not in that 20% you are essentially doomed to be alone. This is a dangerous myth with no scientific basis.��

However, there are a lot of contradictions in this culture, because it also heavily promotes "looksmaxxing"—things like how to build a stronger jaw or more symmetrical bone structure or become more muscular. When these efforts fail, it seems to confirm fears about being genetically inferior. This pattern can lead to hopelessness and escalate to violent rhetoric and hatred toward women.

What about the show's 'blue pill' and 'red pill' references?

In the incelosphere, references to the "blue pill" represent a state of naivete, where you haven’t been awakened to the idea of the 80/20 rule yet—you’re under the false impression that there’s someone out there for you. The "red pill" represents when you start to awaken to this "truth."��

The worst, most concerning elements of this culture are represented by the "black pill," which symbolizes hopelessness and resentment. Being "black pilled" is far less common, yet this ideology heavily influences rhetoric on incel forums through a small group of extremely active users. This is where you sometimes see calls to violence and radicalization.

How do boys find their way to the incelosphere?

Research shows that users as young as 15 are active on major incel forums. But it’s important to realize that most young men and boys don’t go online seeking these forums out. They can be led there simply by searching for things related to basic teenage identity struggles, like feeling bad about how you look or researching mental health or suicide forums. For older demographics, fitness and unemployment forums can also inadvertently lead them to these spaces through various algorithms.

How concerned should people be?

Most incel content is not necessarily espousing violence, and most incels never resort to violence. However, I think we do need to be concerned about how young men are being socialized to view women. There have also been carried out by self-identified incels.

How did your experience in Tallahassee in 2018 impact you?

It was extremely traumatizing. It led to increased advocacy for research and change, , a nonprofit founded by Jeff Binkley, whose daughter Maura was one of the victims. Many of us believe that hate against women should be taken as seriously as violence against other populations that we know stem from radicalization and extremism. We believe incel violence, even if only concentrated in extremist fringes of the incelosphere, should be viewed as a growing terrorism threat.

What can parents do?

This show demonstrates how people who are young and vulnerable can become sucked into this rhetoric, despite having parents that care about them. They end up in these forums because they're already experiencing feelings of hopelessness, rejection and loss of self-worth. Recognizing those signs is a good first step. If someone is spending excessive time online and beginning to use language that is disparaging toward women, that may also indicate they're digesting some problematic content.��

Most importantly, we need to make sure that boys have good role models and real-life connections that give them confidence, so that if they are exposed to this hateful messaging, they don’t get sucked in. Having positive interactions with people of all genders helps young men develop healthy perspectives on relationships and see women as human beings and as equals, not through the distorted lens these forums promote.