I don’t specifically remember the first time I heard the term ‘incel’ being used, but it was definitely not referring to the original context. Originally, the term was coined in the 90s by a queer young college-aged woman named Alana out of her own personal frustrations with being lonely, and perpetually single. It was not long after that she started an internet support group called “Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project” and it soon grew to become a community of people bonded through their mutual inability to have sex or relationships. But, you probably were, like I was, completely unaware of this. If you are to google the term incel now, you’re more likely to find something really awful and nauseating, described as “coming from the dark side of the internet” and understood to be an extremist male supremacy movement. This emerging subculture is, without a doubt, extremely scary. 

I wasn’t all that aware about the true horrors of incel culture by virtue of the type of content I selectively engage with on the internet (hint: definitely not extremely sexist, misogynistic hate content). I barely even knew what an incel was, except that it was usually used to refer to an extremely sexist straight man– woman hating and woman blaming for his status. Incel culture has, sadly broken into the mainstream with truly tragic things like this(https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/local/yoga-shooting-incel-attack-fueled-by-male-supremacy/) and this(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/toronto-van-attack-latest-suspect-incel-4chan-radicalised-mission-accomplished-terrorism-a9124291.html), though. But what has led to this extreme radicalization of the original project? How do we understand incel culture to engage with masculinity and what do pervasive toxic masculinity as a behavior reveal to us?

To better understand the incel, a pretty serious line needs to be drawn connecting the rise of the incel to the rise of men right’s movements. I’ve noticed that most movements deemed “progressive” (gender equality should most definitely not be considered a progressive ideal…) often face some degree of backlash in response to the change the movement advocates for. With a general rise in feminist movements within the last century, men’s right movements have scarily developed in reaction to the increased affordance of rights and agency for women. Strangely enough, the men’s right movement, along with other alt-right, super awful (sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc) ones, has found a series of networks and spaces through the internet. Whereas these men might exist in otherwise isolated contexts in the real world, the internet provides ample space where misogyny and bigotry can hide. According to a brief, yet quite insightful, background done on incel subculture by Grinnell College, this space for men’s rights activists on the internet (specifically reddit), coined the Manosphere, has vague and shifting bounds. Various subgroups exist within the Manosphere, incels being among the several. So where does the incel fit within this virtual landscape? Generally speaking, according to the now removed(https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/reddit-incel-involuntary-celibate-men-ban) incels subreddit, incels are “at least 21 years of age and have gone six months without a romantic partner not og their own volition”. Incels are predominantly heterosexual (white) men and are self pitying in the sense that they hold sexist and extremely offensive attitudes towards women and sex; blaming their lack of having sex on women directly. Ironically though, these men objectify and vilify the women that they also desperately desire to have sex with.

The incel identity can be understood through examining the broader relationship between sex and hegemonic masculinity. We’ve spoken in class about the ways hegemonic masculinity can be harmful to men with regards to the certain expectations of masculinity they demand. It is important to note, though, that the current model of masculinity is also actively hurting women, too. There are simultaneous feelings of entitlement and hatred for women that the incel holds, which often leads to horrible threats or acts of violence against women. Under the prevailing model of hegemonic masculinity, heterosexual men feel entitled to, or deemed masculine, through having sex: to have sex is to be a man. With regards to the incel, the inability to engage in sexual encounters leads to feelings emasculated. The threat of a loss of masculinity is often used as a means to justify violence and misogyny towards women. “Aggrieved entitlement is the term for this phenomenon, in which a usually privileged group is partially denied their expected privileges” (Grinnell College). It can be extremely scary to be made aware of the dangerous, violent rhetoric being spread towards women. What’s equally as scary, however, is how the internet is part of landscape that is creating space for these types of hateful movements. (It has been mentioned briefly that the internet has served as an external space for specific queer identities, and how these spaces engage with a certain public-private dichotomy. Interestingly, though, I notice how the idea of space in the internet is not necessarily fair or just. Extremely toxic and radical movements such as men’s rights have equally found a space in the internet, where they are capable of navigating the public-private dichotomy as well. This brings about interesting thoughts about the role of ethicality in the internet, and understanding how non-normative “identities” can exist on a spectrum [with incel being with the bad]). It is to my understanding that the incel identity has come out of certain insecurities and projections surrounding sex, and how sex is understood in our society as a marker of one’s masculinity, and therefore manhood. The men that engage within these movements are completely unaware of the ways in which the patriarchy is continually hurting and limiting them: instead they feel the need to blame women, or worse. It can be difficult to discuss toxic masculinities, especially ones as violent and harmful as the incel subculture. However, I believe an important part of dismantling these toxic forms of masculinity is to critically engage with them, and call into question the ways in which they are operating under certain frameworks of gender and sexuality.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/19/why-only-care-incels-men-involuntary-celibacy

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-rage-of-the-incels

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-the-incel-community-and-the-dark-side-of-the-internet/

https://www.elle.com/culture/news/a34512/woman-who-started-incel-movement/

Incels