By – Manushree Mahat

Abstract

Incels, a portmanteau for ‘involuntary celibates’, are one of the many extensions of the distasteful manosphere. In this article, the author will deconstruct how patriarchy is deeply integrated into the internet, that it has resulted in the creation of new, more dangerous identities. The fact that men experience loneliness and alienation from women to such a degree, that they inflict paramount violence upon others, is an extension of patriarchy. The article will trace the history of incel subculture, to understand how this subsection of men has become a template for misogyny and hate towards women in social media and real life.

Introduction: The beginnings of incel subculture

The history of incel subculture is rooted in the formation of a community alright–but not about what it is known for now. The incel subculture was created by a woman, a  Canadian student named Alana, who wanted to create a space to discuss loneliness and awkwardness around dating and relationships. People of all genders indiscriminately would share their failed dating stories in this online community, until Alana’s departure from the forum. Ultimately, the forums extended and became dominated by men, who blamed women for their failures in dating, life, and sex. An example of this is the blackpill worldview–the belief that women set such high standards for men that it is completely unmeetable, therefore blaming them for their inadequacies.

It is quite fascinating to think that a subculture that has now come to be associated with so much hate and anger towards women was in fact created by a woman. Not only was the incel culture taken over by hateful men, but also twisted away from its positive roots into something downright sinister. We can also analyze the subtext of patriarchy in this sweepover–while women intended to find a positive community when they experienced failures in dating, men created a hateful community that blamed all women and feminism for their bad experiences. Patriarchy demands women’s subservience to men’s advances, so when women exercise their agency to deny these advances, men retaliate and revert to times when women’s agency was limited. They blame feminism for their lecherous behaviour, showing how patriarchy shows itself in the way men behave when they believe they are not given what they ‘rightfully’ deserve. Andrew Tate’s blatant practice of misogyny with statements like ‘women deserve to bear responsibility for their rapes’ does provide an example of how men project their depraved actions on women. 

Violence of incels

In 2014, a man named Elliot Rodger killed 6 people near the University of California and proceeded to commit suicide. This incident stands out as an extremely violent incident associated with the incel subculture, as Rodger went on to publish a detailed manifesto ‘bemoaning’ his grievances around women who rejected him, essentially projecting the blame for his inadequacies and his crimes on women. In another violent incident, Alek Minassian drove a rental van on a crowded sidewalk in Canada, with the intention of an ‘incel rebellion’, citing Rodger as an inspiration for his actions.

Much like these acts, incel violence has raged on over the years. One thing that stands out about incels and the entire manosphere is the level of violence they’re capable of committing for the sake of their ‘cause’. This inclination towards committing mass killings certainly stands out. Terrorism is associated with the spread of widespread violence and fear for ideological reasons–it is perhaps fair to glean that the incel subculture has created a dedicated group of men bent on causing fear and harm to women and society. Their danger to women and society is so great that researchers are actually calling for the FBI to closely monitor them as domestic threats.

Language hierarchy and ‘code’ words

Chad is a physically attractive man who can get any woman he so pleases. Stacy is a physically attractive woman who will always go for the attractive man. And then there are the pills: the ‘redpill’is the pill that reveals the true realities of sex and power, and the ‘blackpill’is the belief there is no way out of this. Therefore, all the other men, who did not ‘win the genetic lottery’, are left to fend for themselves. There’s also looksmaxxing, the practice of making one as attractive as possible through changes to their physical appearance. It is interesting to observe how all the incels’ tactics are streamlined towards physical attractiveness, and none towards improving one’s behaviour for a better personal and dating life. This is the incel logic. Social interactions and dynamics are reduced to biological and genetic determinants, and instead of men taking responsibility for their bad behaviour, they victimize themselves as the ones women will never choose. 

This is the use of language that appeals to social media and the internet to incite groups into vilifying women and certain people. What reveals this about incels is that the incel subculture and manosphere are an ecosystem. It is made up of language, memes, visual images, and social media posts that are consistently used to normalize anger and violence towards women. Social media creates a certain kind of desensitization with its exposure; the more there is exposure to these kinds of demeaning language, the more it becomes a norm, a part of everyday usage. It alienates men from the reality of society and integrates them into a community that blatantly encourages violence. It is also interesting to think that much like bigots and fascists use factually wrong biological determinants to justify their ‘superiority’, incels in the manosphere also use this bigoted logic to incite violence.

Patriarchy makes loneliness shameful and violent

Isolation and loneliness makes a recipe for entry into the incel community. While women’s loneliness gave way to a community rooted in support, men’s loneliness birthed an extremely volatile ‘community’ that credited violence to everything. This is also an example of how we can analyze patriarchy and demonstrate its extension on the internet. Patriarchy demands certain characteristics of men–one of dominance, where emotions and meekness are not welcome. When men on the internet become indoctrinated into the ideas of dominance and power through incel subculture and manosphere, instead of embracing the community of support that was the beginning of incels in the first place, it is an example of how patriarchy functions. It shames men for their perhaps genuine sense of isolation, and morphs it into traditional descriptors of masculinity–one of the alpha dominant powerhouses that preys on women.

Conclusion

When patriarchy is so integrated into society, anything that puts men into the ‘dangers’ of a lonesome, they project their anger onto women. The logic of patriarchy is that while women are expected to practise subservience from men in every facet of their lives, they’re also somehow to be held responsible for all of men’s wrongdoings because they shirked on this submission, the internet has become a place where men can lash out their supposed ‘lamentations’, while also projecting this hatred onto more number of men, until the hate is manifested in an entire community. The internet is literally a bubble of its own, where patriarchy is repeatedly perpetuated by men who believe their masculinity is being threatened. The internet has not reduced misogyny and patriarchy in any form, if anything it has let it take the shape of terrorism, one where women all over the world are constantly terrorised.

Author’s bio

Manushree Mahat is an amateur writer based in Kathmandu. She has experience in culture, lifestyle, and social journalism, and also dabbles in fictional storytelling once in a while.