Incel

For other uses, see Incel (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with sexual frustration.

Incel (/ˈɪnsɛl/ IN-sel; a portmanteau of "involuntary celibate"[1]) is a term associated with an online subculture of people (racially diverse but mostly white,[2] male and heterosexual[3]) who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, and blame, objectify and denigrate women and girls as a result.[4][5][6] The movement is strongly linked to misogyny. Originally coined as "invcel" around 1997 by a queer Canadian female student known as Alana, the spelling had shifted to "incel" by 1999,[7][8] and the term later rose to prominence in the 2010s, following the influence of misogynistic terrorists Elliot Rodger and Alek Minassian.[9]

The subculture's attitude can be characterized by resentment, hostility, sexual objectification, misogyny, misanthropy, self-pity and self-loathing, racism, sense of entitlement to sex, blaming of women and the sexually successful for their situation (which is often seen as predetermined due to biological determinism, evolutionary genetics or a rigged game), nihilism, rape culture, and the endorsement of sexual and non-sexual violence against women and the sexually active.[10][25] Incel communities have been increasingly criticized by scholars, government officials, and others for their misogyny, the endorsement and encouragement of violence, and extremism.[26] Over time the subculture has become associated with extremism and terrorism, and since 2014 there have been multiple mass killings, mostly in North America, perpetrated by self-identified incels, as well as other instances of violence or attempted violence.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described the subculture as "part of the online male supremacist ecosystem" that is included in their list of hate groups.[27][28] The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism states that "the incel community shares a misogynistic ideology of women as being genetically inferior to men, driven by their sexual desire to reproduce with genetically superior males thereby excluding unattractive men such as themselves" which "exhibits all of the hallmarks of an extremist ideology", and that it is the combination of a wish for a mythical past where all men were entitled to sex from subordinated women, a sense of predestined personal failure, and nihilism, which makes the worldview dangerous.[29][21] Estimates of the overall size of the subculture vary greatly, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of individuals.[30][31]

  1. ^ Beever, Jonathan; McDaniel, Rudy; Stanlick, Nancy A. (2020). Understanding Digital Ethics: Cases and Contexts. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-315-28212-1. OCLC 1123184308. Archived from the original on May 13, 2024. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  2. ^
  3. ^
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Beauchamp-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Taub, Amanda (May 9, 2018). "On Social Media's Fringes, Growing Extremism Targets Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018.
  6. ^ Mezzofiore, Gianluca (April 25, 2018). "The Toronto suspect apparently posted about an 'incel rebellion.' Here's what that means". CNN. Atlanta, Georgia. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  7. ^ "The word "incel"". Love Not Anger. October 6, 2019. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Elliot Rodger: How misogynist killer became 'incel hero'". April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ Burton, Anthony (December 2022). "Blackpill Science: Involuntary Celibacy, Rational Technique, and Economic Existence under Neoliberalism". Canadian Journal of Communication. 47 (4): 676–701. doi:10.3138/cjc.2022-07-25. S2CID 252937655.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Romano-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference dark-side was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Baumgartner-Der_Spiegel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Grunau, Karolin; Bieselt, Helena E.; Gul, Pelin; Kupfer, Tom R. (2022). "Unwanted celibacy is associated with misogynistic attitudes even after controlling for personality". Personality and Individual Differences. 199: 111860. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.111860. hdl:2066/282240.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dastagir-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Foster, Ally (June 6, 2018). "A look inside the group of men 'addicted' to hating women". news.com.au. Archived from the original on June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference currycels was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Romano-2018b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardianvanattack was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cain, Patrick (April 24, 2018). "What we learned from Alek Minassian's Incel-linked Facebook page – and what we'd like to know". Global News. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  21. ^ a b Purdue, Simon (July 13, 2022). "Ideological Nihilism and Aesthetic Violence: Mass Shooters and Online Antisocial Subcultures". Global Network on Extremism & Technology. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  22. ^ Powell, Anastasia; Sugiura, Lisa (2018). "Resisting rape culture in digital society". The Routledge International Handbook of Violence Studies. pp. 447–457. doi:10.4324/9781315270265-42. ISBN 9781315270265. S2CID 149584002. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wood-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (April 29, 2018). "What's An 'Incel'? The Online Community Behind The Toronto Van Attack". Weekend Edition Sunday. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  25. ^
    • Resentment, misogyny[11][12][5][4]
    • Hatred[13]
    • Hostility and sexual objectification[14]
    • Misanthropy[4]
    • Self-pity[15]
    • Self-loathing[16][13]
    • Racism[12][17][18][13]
    • Entitlement to sex[19][20]
    • Nihilism: "The incel movement relies heavily on the idea of ideological nihilism" [21]
    • Rape culture and sexual violence: "[T]he incel community presents just one extreme example of rape culture" [22]
    • Endorsement of violence against women and sexually active people[12][23][24]
  26. ^
  27. ^ Janik, Rachel (April 24, 2018). ""I laugh at the death of normies": How incels are celebrating the Toronto mass killing". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  28. ^ Judy, Cliff; Mendoza, Casey (February 22, 2018). "What Is 'Male Supremacy,' According To Southern Poverty Law Center?". WGBA-TV. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  29. ^ Brace, Lewys (August 26, 2021). "A Short Introduction To The Incel Sub-Culture". Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kassam-2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Young, Toby (May 5, 2018). "Here's what every incel needs: a sex robot". The Spectator. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018.