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Netflix’s psychological drama Adolescence has started a debate about teenage boys and misogyny in modern society. It tells the story of a seemingly normal young boy, Jamie, who is arrested after the brutal murder of a girl in his class.

The series focuses on how young men are being radicalised against women by various podcasts, blogs and forums that make up the anti-feminist movement, the so-called ‘manosphere’. These podcasts often give men tips about how to be an ‘alpha’ male and promote the idea that feminism has set back men's rights. They use a range of material to back up their claims, including statistics.

One such statistic was quoted in Adolescence and used to explain Jamie’s hatred towards women - that 80% of women are only attracted to 20% of men.

Where does this claim come from and is it true? We look into the alleged maths behind the misogyny.

‘The original version of this programme erroneously attributed the creation of the website ‘Hot or Not’ to Mark Zuckerberg, thank you to the listeners for pointing this error out to us. We have amended and updated the programme.’

Presenter/Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon