The face not even a mother could love.
wrote Incel
“hero”"zero"
Elliot Rodger in a 140-paged manifesto discovered shortly after he murdered six and injured 13 fellow UCSB students, before taking his own lifecoward p.o.s.
in Isla Vista, California in May of 2014. Rodger prophesied of a future rebellion, in which “Incels” would unite and overthrow the “feminist system”wtf planet were you on???
we live in. Until then, mainstream media had never before heard the word Incel; it would take time after the tragedy for Rodger's message to be unpacked, and for the scope of it to be understood. Immediately after, however, it was clear a new societal threat was at hand.
Q: What are Incels?
A: Involuntary Celibates.
To elaborate, Incels are
peoplemales, mostly
who believe it's beyond their control to have sexual relations with other peoplefemales, mostly
. They blame their state of being on other people females, mostly
for not having sex with them. This attitude indicates a sense of entitlement toward sexAs you might guess, a lot of self-identifying Incels are angry. But not angry at their status quo, they're angry at women and men who have sex (mostly women if I had to guess, though; they probably secretly want to be the men having sex, even if it’s not cool to admit that to their Incel buds).
; they feel they deserve sex, and that it's being withheld from them.
Q: What do Incels do?
A: IDK; act similarly to the way cancer does?
Look at all the renegade cancer cells disrupting all that is peaceful around them! GROSS.
Incels are part of a larger ill-organized online network of forums, blogs, Facebook groups, and subreddits called the “Manosphere”. Manospheric ideology—as one could guess—
Incels tend to physically isolate themselves from the outside world, opting instead to find community with one another on such websites. There, anonymity and little-to-no site moderation allows them so say whatever it is they feel, much to the amusement of themselves and each other. Much of Incels' conversations on these websites are merely self-deprecating, but they are just as often misogynist, bigoted, and sometimes racist. In such a toxic vacuum, it's easy to see how seemingly innocent and cathartic online commiseration could grow to something more sinister.
promotes misogynyOver time, the 'Manosphere' has produced a colorful glossary of vocabulary, used regularly by Incels to describe their view of the world, and other people. “Chads” and “Stacys,” for example, are attractive males and females Incels hate for having sex with one another. While they are merely jealous of Chads, Incels feel Stacys owe them sex, and hate them for not wanting to give it up. As punishment for not desiring sex with Incels, females are further degraded with vulgar terms like “Roastie,” which refers to a woman's labia resembling that of roast beef due to coitus. NOT FUNNY.
and demotes feminism, in often contradictory waysWhat IS FUNNY though, is that some of the Manospheric lingo Incels use such as "red pill" and "blue pill," which are used to denote one's enlightenment or ignorance to the "reality" that it is actually men who are oppressed by women, is a direct reference to the 1999 film The Matrix. Written and directed by two trans women, the storyline can be simplified to a woman and a black man successfully convincing a white man to come to his damn senses, and fight subjugation. Fill me in, Incels—what exactly about this do you relate to?
.Incels tend to physically isolate themselves from the outside world, opting instead to find community with one another on such websites. There, anonymity and little-to-no site moderation allows them so say whatever it is they feel, much to the amusement of themselves and each other. Much of Incels' conversations on these websites are merely self-deprecating, but they are just as often misogynist, bigoted, and sometimes racist. In such a toxic vacuum, it's easy to see how seemingly innocent and cathartic online commiseration could grow to something more sinister.
WAKE THE HELL UP, INCEL.
There is a contingent of the Incel community, however, who reject both red and blue pill notions, choosing instead to "blackpill." Essentially, the blackpill mindset means that one fully accepts the
harsh realityWhile accepting any 'fact' in order to move on and live life accordingly may be healthy, this fatalist attitude is the root of why people like Elliot Rodger move toward extreme actions; in their minds, this 'acceptance' of facts validates their own shitty feelings, and therefore justifies their actions, no matter what they may be. In other words, if they hurt, everyone else should hurt fifty times more than they do.
that they were born physically unattractive—doomed to walk the earth alone and sexless—and that society offers them no help for their situation.
Q: Are there female Incels?
A: Funny you ask! Yes, but they don’t seem to pose a threat to anyone else. This may be interesting, but even more interesting is...
how the origin of the word Incel traces back to 1997, to a website called Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project; eventually, "Involuntary Celibacy" was shortened to
"Incel"Hey, Incel—how does it feel knowing you wouldn't even be an Incel if a woman didn't think of the concept first??? How original. Is this appropriation, or just plain idiocy?
. Created by a woman wishing to be known by her first name only, Alana, the site served as a forum for both women and men to talk about their difficulties meeting romantic partners. Not a dating site per se, but connections were made, and some even married! Overall, it was “a very friendly place,” according to Alana. Fast forward to present day, and virtually the entire Incel demographic is made up of women-hating menWe can only presume that the way Alana feels about her brainchild is similar to the way Albert Einstein felt about his; you know—the one used by American military to kill about 120,000 innocent Japanese civilians in order to win a war?
.
Imagine waking up one morning to learn that someone has taken your baby, and programmed it to end human life.
Q: Does radicalization occur within the Incel community?
A: Absolutely.
In 2018, shortly after lauding Elliot Rodger a
“supreme gentleman”"supreme shithead"
and declaring war on "Chads" and "Stacys" in an online post, 25 year-old software developer Alek Minassian—with no prior criminal record—deliberately drove a rented van onto a crowded Toronto sidewalk, killing 10 and injuring 16 people. Currently awaiting trial, Minassian admits to being radicalized online, but is nonetheless remorselessMinassian told a Toronto detective his actions were inspired by other men “who used violence as a form of retribution for ‘being unable to get laid.’ ” Minassian also said he hoped his actions would inspire more attacks.
for what he did. Unfortunately, Incel radicalization doesn't stop here, nor is Minassian the only Incel perpetrator to sympathize with Elliot Rodger, and/or cite him as an influence for their own acts of terrorism.
Monkey see, monkey do.
Q: Okay, okay, so are all Incels horrible people??
A: Absolutely not, but all Incels do need help, IMHO.
For every bad Incel, there's
Incels—especially those who blackpill—believe they are ugly, and subhuman. And due to Incel culture existing primarily online, I'd bet most Incels—particularly those who 'blackpill'—are
oneI admit that I don't have any actual data to support this, but my research leads me to conclude that many Incels simply don't have violent tendencies, and that if they hate anyone, it is only themselves.
who truly is just sad and lonely, and not a proponent of violence as an outlet for sexual frustration; they simply aren't having sex because they can't meet anybody to have sex with, and have low self-esteem as a result.Incels—especially those who blackpill—believe they are ugly, and subhuman. And due to Incel culture existing primarily online, I'd bet most Incels—particularly those who 'blackpill'—are
reclusive and/or phobic of social interactionI'm no psychologist, but it would seem to me that mental illness, in some capacity or another, is at play here.
.
Q: So what's an Incel to do?
A: Such a simple question doesn't have a simple answer, but here is a perfectly reasonable takeaway in around 100 words:
Yes, there's a lot to learn from the many I-left-Incel success stories on the internet, but surely even they aren't likely to change the minds of the most hardened Incels. Yes, there are inumerable things Incels could do to better their situation, but remember those so entrentched in Inceldom don't believe help even exists in the first place. Rather, maybe we as a society should think more deeply about how to prevent violent extremism in the first place. I'll spare you the liberal guns-and-mental-health jibber-jabber because you've heard it all before, and it's somewhat off-topic to this assignment, anyway, but last time I checked, the only way to solve a problem of any kind is to look for the root. And the root here has to do with the fulfilment of a basic desire to find acceptance, and to avoid rejection. Sounds human, right?