How to reform your son after you watched a TV show

Reformers of men are asking boys to watch 'Adolescence' in the hope that it will prove educative

- MANU JOSEPH

My dear son, I'm watching Adolescence on Netflix, and I need to over-articulate my limited understanding of human nature using terminology from therapy and gender studies. If you wish to be a modern man, you must talk about your feelings; talk, talk, talk. Not podcast; the world doesn't need another podcast from a male. Talk to people who love you, and since they would be very few, also talk to under-employed friends who love to gossip.

You are showing some toxic signs already, or at least they seem toxic. For instance, you spend hours alone because you love it. Your love for sports demonstrates a clear need for aggression and ambition. You have never plucked a single flower, which is disturbing. You don't read made-up drama.

To reform you, I must force you to watch Adolescence, which is about a boy of 13 who is suspected of murdering a girl his age. You will suffer chiefly because it is slow. It's a show on adolescence for adults, like one of those films made in India for foreigners.

You have a problem; it is a toxic substance called testosterone inside you. It builds muscle, improves oxygen delivery in the blood, reduces inflammation, enhances spatial problem-solving and memory, and influences fat distribution. It also triggers sexual desire. Most of what some feminists think is caused by testosterone in men of their age is probably caused by morning cortisol; even so, testosterone influences the development of those dangerous things called muscles from where the ill-gotten powers of men arise. You have many times the level of this hormone than a girl your age, and that is worrisome.