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The incel (for involuntary celibate) subculture is an online community whose member regard themselves as being defined by being unable to find a romantic or sexual partner, a state they describe as involuntary celibacy. Self-identified incels are almost exclusively male. Discussions in incel forums are often characterized by bitterness, misogyny and the endorsement of violence.[1]

The term was first used in 1993. It gained notoriety in the 2010s when it became associated with perpetrators of spree killings, and the website Reddit banned the controversial /r/incels forum.

Origins and use of the term

Coinage

The terms incel and involuntary celibate are reported to have been coined by a college student with the alias Alana from Toronto, Ontario in 1993, when she created a website in order to discuss her sexual inactivity with others.[2][3] The website, titled "Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project",[4] was used by people of all genders to share posts about the topic. During her college career and after, she realized she was queer, and became more comfortable with her identity. She later gave the site to a stranger. After reading about the 2014 Isla Vista killings, she wrote, "Like a scientist who invented something that ended up being a weapon of war, I can't uninvent this word, nor restrict it to the nicer people who need it."[5]

Academic use

A 2001 paper in The Journal of Sex Research defined the term involuntary celibate as someone who wishes to have sex, but has not been able to find a willing partner in the past six months.[6] Other definitions do not include a time frame.[7] The term also encompasses people who are in sexless marriages or relationships but wish to be having sex.[6]

Involuntary celibacy is distinct from asexuality and from voluntary sexual abstinence.[6][8]

In popular usage, the term primarily refers to the online communities for people who self-identify as involuntarily celibate. These communities are characterized by misogyny, the glorification of violence, and racism.[9][10][11][12] In recent years, the term has become more widely discussed with regards to the creation and then banning of the /r/incels subreddit, and a series of spree killings committed by people who self-identified as involuntarily celibate or who shared similar ideologies.[13][8][14]

According to The New York Times, involuntary celibacy is an adaptation of the idea of “male supremacy,”[15] an ideology the Southern Poverty Law Center has begun including in their list of hate groups.[16]

In these online communities, the term "involuntary celibate" or "incel" is used alongside other terms, such as "love-shy" (social anxiety or excessive shyness preventing romantic success).[17][18] The German author Maja Roedenbeck Schaefer uses the English-language term "Absolute Beginner" to describe individuals who are celibate, but not through personal choice.[19] Some online communities use more specific terms to quantify specific kinds of incels, such as "truecel", someone who has never had any form of physical intimacy, "mentalcel", someone whose involuntary celibacy is caused by a mental health issue, or "fakecel", someone who pretends to be incel.[20]

Black pill

Beliefs that are common in male incel communities, such as fatalism and defeatism for unattractive people, are referred to as the black pill.[21] The black pill also holds that in modern society, women have the power to choose and reject in the dating scene and that women using this power are predisposed to selecting men based on their perceived genetic fitness.[22] The term black pill was coined on the blog Omega Virgin Revolt, where the term commended despondency in order to distinguish incels from the pick-up artist communities.[23] The concept black pill is sometimes used in verb form as in "blackpilled"[24] or its synonymous interchangeable term LDAR (which stands for "lay down and rot")[25] to illustrate that one has become aware of the philosophy of the black pill. The adjective blackpilled can also refer to someone who is not an incel, yet believes in the the black pill.[26]

Spree killings

There have been a number of spree killings by men who have self-identified as involuntarily celibate, or whose statements align with "incel" ideologies.

The 2014 Isla Vista killings drew considerable attention to the concept of involuntary celibacy, and particularly the misogyny and glorification of violence that is a mainstay of many incel communities. The perpetrator, Elliot Rodger, self-identified as an incel and left behind a 137-page manifesto and YouTube videos discussing how he wanted revenge for being rejected by women.[27][28][29] He had been an active member of an involuntary celibacy community called PUAHate (short for "pickup artist hate"), and referenced it several times in his manifesto.[30][31][14]

The perpetrator of the 2009 Collier Township shooting, George Sodini, has been embraced by some of the involuntary celibacy communities.[30] Although the involuntary celibacy forum where Elliot Rodger had been active, PUAHate, shut down soon after his attack, Rodger became something of a martyr to some communities that remained, and to some of those that began later.[14][32][33] After the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting by a man with unclear motive, some of the involuntarily celibate community celebrated the shooter, who they felt was a hero who was targeting "normies".[33] The trend has since continued—Alek Minassian, the suspect in the April 2018 Toronto van attack, posted on Facebook shortly before the attack, "The Incel Rebellion has already begun! ... All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!" After the attack, a poster on a website created to supersede /r/incels wrote about Minassian, "I hope this guy wrote a manifesto because he could be our next new saint."[33]

List

Date Location Country Description Main article
May 23, 2014 Isla Vista, California United States 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed 6 people and injured 14 others near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara before killing himself. He left a lengthy manifesto and YouTube videos detailing his hatred for women and his involuntary celibacy.[29][28] 2014 Isla Vista killings
October 1, 2015 Roseburg, Oregon United States 26-year-old Chris Harper-Mercer shot and killed 9 people and injured 8 others at the Umpqua Community College campus before killing himself. He left a manifesto at the scene, outlining his interest in other spree killings, anger at not having a girlfriend, and animus towards the world. Before the attack, when someone on an online message board had speculated he was "saving himself for someone special," Harper-Mercer had replied, "Involuntarily so."[34][8][35] Umpqua Community College shooting
April 23, 2018 North York City Centre, North York, Toronto, Ontario Canada A van driver, suspected to be 25-year-old Alek Minassian, killed 10 people and injured 14 others. Minassian was arrested soon after the attack. Shortly before the attack, Minassian had posted on Facebook that "the Incel Rebellion has already begun" and applauded Elliot Rodger, the self-identified incel attacker in the 2014 Isla Vista killings.[36][15] Toronto van attack

Online communities

The misogynistic and violent rhetoric[9][10][12][11] of Incel communities has lead to numerous bans from websites and webhosts. /r/incels was a Reddit community (known as a subreddit) that offered a forum for people who identified as involuntarily celibate. The subreddit was known as a place where men blamed women for their involuntary celibacy, sometimes advocated for rape or other violence, and were generally misogynistic and often racist.[10][37] Members of the group described women as "femoids" or "stacys" and described men who were able to have sex with these women as "chads".[10][38] One post titled "general question about how rapists get caught" was asked by a member pretending to be a woman, saying they wanted to know how a woman who was drugged and raped would begin finding her rapist.[10][39] Others glorified Elliot Rodger, the perpetrator of the 2014 Isla Vista killings.[39] On October 25, 2017, Reddit announced a new policy that would ban "content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people."[37] On November 7, 2017, the /r/incels subreddit was banned for violating this policy. At the time of the ban, the community had around 40,000 members.[40] Incel.life was created in December 2017 in response to the Reddit ban. In February 2018, journalists at Babe, a subcategory of the news site The Tab, informed the web host and domain registrar about rape apologism and advocacy of violence on the website. Within two hours, the website was taken down.[41]

Incel communities continue to exist on platforms more lenient of their content, such as Voat[42] and the message board /r9k/ on 4chan.[43] Such communities frequently overlap with topics such as pickup artistry and men's rights activism.[8][30]

Psychology

Further information: Sexual frustration

Involuntary celibacy is not a medical or psychological condition, but those who identify as incels sometimes suffer from physical disabilities or psychological disorders. A 2001 Georgia State University study found that people who self-identified as incels tended to feel frustrated, depressed, and angry regardless of why they felt they were involuntarily celibate. These researchers found that involuntary celibacy was often correlated with depression, neuroticism, anxiety, and autistic disorders.[44]

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Jason (25 April 2018). "Toronto van attack: Facebook post may link suspect to misogynist 'incel' subculture". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ Schallhorn, Kaitlyn (2018-04-24). "'Incel' sexual frustration 'rebellion' at center of Toronto attack". Fox News. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  3. ^ Ling, Justin; Mahoney, Jill; McGuire, Patrick; Freeze, Colin (April 24, 2018). "The 'incel' community and the dark side of the internet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  4. ^ Ling, Justin; Mahoney, Jill; McGuire, Patrick; Freeze, Colin (2018-04-24). "The 'incel' community and the dark side of the internet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  5. ^ Baker, Peter (March 1, 2016). "The Woman Who Accidentally Started the Incel Movement". Elle. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Donnelly, Denise; Burgess, Elisabeth; Anderson, Sally; Davis, Regina; Dillard, Joy (2001). "Involuntary Celibacy: A life course analysis". The Journal of Sex Research. 38: 159–169.
  7. ^ Shehan, Constance L., ed. (February 29, 2016). "Celibacy". The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies. Vol. 1. John Wiley & Sons. p. 238. ISBN 9780470658451.
  8. ^ a b c d Baker, Peter (February 29, 2016). "What Happens to Men Who Can't Have Sex". Elle. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Wilson, Jason (April 24, 2018). "Toronto attack: Facebook post may link suspect to misogynistic online subculture". The Guardian. Retrieved April 25, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ a b c d e Solon, Olivia (November 8, 2017). "'Incel': Reddit bans misogynist men's group blaming women for their celibacy". The Guardian. Retrieved April 25, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  11. ^ a b Collins, Ben; Zadrozny, Brandy (April 24, 2018). "After Toronto attack, online misogynists praise suspect as 'new saint'". NBC News. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  12. ^ a b Kini, Aditi Natasha (November 15, 2017). "How Reddit Is Teaching Young Men to Hate Women". Vice. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  13. ^ Louie, Sam (June 21, 2017). "Involuntary Celibacy". Psychology Today. Retrieved April 24, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  14. ^ a b c Burleigh, Nina (May 27, 2014). "Inside the terrifying, twisted online world of involuntary celibates". Salon. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Chokshi, Niraj (April 24, 2018). "What Is an Incel? Explaining a Term Used by the Toronto Van Attack Suspect". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  16. ^ Cliff Judy, Casey Mendoza (February 22, 2018). "What Is 'Male Supremacy,' According To Southern Poverty Law Center?". WGBA. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  17. ^ Dewey, Caitlin (October 7, 2015). "Incels, 4chan and the Beta Uprising: making sense of one of the Internet's most-reviled subcultures". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  18. ^ Hudson, Jennifer L., and Ronald M. Rapee. "The origins of social phobia." Behavior Modification 24.1 (2000): 102-129 doi:10.1177/0145445500241006
  19. ^ Maja Roedenbeck: Und wer küsst mich? Absolute Beginners – Wenn die Liebe auf sich warten lässt. Berlin 2012, S. 41.
  20. ^ Stokes, Rebecca Jane (2018-04-25). "What It Means To Be An 'Incel', Why Men Using This Label Were Banned From Reddit & Where They're Lurking Now". YourTango. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  21. ^ Williams, Zoe (2018-04-25). "'Raw hatred': why the 'incel' movement targets and terrorises women". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  22. ^ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/means-apos-incel-apos-why-040030173.html
  23. ^ Sonnad, Nikhil; Squirrell, Tim (October 30, 2017). "The alt-right is creating its own dialect. Here's the dictionary". Quartz. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  24. ^ https://www.yourtango.com/2018312914/what-does-chad-mean-incel-slang-definitions-history-terms-on-forums-reddit-4chan
  25. ^ https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/reddit-incels-ban/
  26. ^ https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/means-apos-incel-apos-why-040030173.html
  27. ^ Hill, Kashmir (May 24, 2014). "The Disturbing Internet Footprint Of Santa Barbara Shooter Elliot Rodger". Forbes. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  28. ^ a b Nagourney, Adam; Cieply, Michael; Feuer, Alan; Lovett, Ian (June 1, 2016). "Elliot O. Rodger's Killings in California Followed Years of Withdrawal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  29. ^ a b Dewey, Caitlin (May 27, 2014). "Inside the 'manosphere' that inspired Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  30. ^ a b c Woolf, Nicky (May 30, 2014). "'PUAhate' and 'ForeverAlone': inside Elliot Rodger's online life". The Guardian. Retrieved April 24, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  31. ^ Burleigh, Nina (May 28, 2014). "Hating Women Was His Disease". Observer. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  32. ^ Fearnow, Benjamin (April 24, 2018). "Elliot Rodger's father "very sad" Toronto van suspect Alek Minassian referenced son". Newsweek. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  33. ^ a b c Janik, Rachel (April 24, 2018). ""I laugh at the death of normies": How incels are celebrating the Toronto mass killing". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  34. ^ Healy, Jack; Lovett, Ian (October 2, 2015). "Oregon Killer Described as Man of Few Words, Except on Topic of Guns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  35. ^ Nagle, Angela (2017-06-07). Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan And Tumblr To Trump And The Alt-Right. John Hunt Publishing. ISBN 9781785355448.
  36. ^ Bowden, John (April 24, 2018). "Toronto rampage suspect referenced extremist male 'incel' movement". The Hill. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  37. ^ a b Hauser, Christine (October 26, 2017). "Reddit Bans Nazi Groups and Others in Crackdown on Violent Content". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  38. ^ Tacopino, Joe (April 24, 2018). "Police investigating Facebook posts allegedly made by suspected Toronto driver". New York Post. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  39. ^ a b Bell, Chris (November 9, 2017). "Reddit bans 'involuntarily celibate' community". BBC News. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  40. ^ Hauser, Christine (November 9, 2017). "Reddit Bans 'Incel' Group for Inciting Violence Against Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  41. ^ Shukman, Harry (2018-02-06). "We just got the worst site on the internet taken down". babe. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  42. ^ Hathaway, Jay (2017-11-10). "Why Reddit finally banned one of its most misogynistic forums". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  43. ^ "One of the internet's most-reviled subcultures". Stuff. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 2018-04-25. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  44. ^ Dewey, Caitlin (October 7, 2015). "Incels, 4chan and the Beta Uprising: making sense of one of the Internet's most-reviled subcultures". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
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