In his interesting piece about the Netflix drama Adolescence that he co-wrote, and the issues it raises (18 March), Jack Thorne says: “One of the central ideas [of ‘incel culture’] – that 80% of women are attracted to 20% of men – would have made adolescent me sit up and, frankly, nod.”
I think this is one of the easier ideas to respond to – most simply that you could perfectly properly gender-switch this and it would make perfect sense. It’s very likely that 80% of men are attracted to 20% of women – it’s every bit as obvious as the usually quoted idea.
But something like 85% of men and women have had a partner of the opposite sex, for a short while at least, and somewhere between 5% and 10% might end up in same-sex relationships, and between 5% and 10% might end up alone, again, in both cases, for a short while at least.
I’m lucky – I get to have these conversations with young people in my school every day. But we need to think properly about the assertions that come out of extremism, because, more often than not, once you’ve given them a moment they are obviously nonsense.
Adam Fletcher
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
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