Understanding and Addressing “The Incel Rebellion”

By Nicolas Jensen

“Incel,” or “involuntarily celibate,” is the moniker used by persons who want to participate in sexual relations but cannot due to social anxiety or lack of physical resources (Donnelly et al. 2001; Maxwell et al., 2020). It is an ideology that has become more widely known after violent attacks by self-identified Incels. Most recently, a man killed ten people after driving a van into a crowded area in Toronto in 2018 and proclaimed on his social media that it was the start of “The Incel Rebellion” (Joseph and Abedi, 2019). The movement is linked to stabbings, shootings, and vehicular ramming, resulting in fatalities climbing to 50 people since the first act of named Incel violence in 2014 (Hoffman, Ware, & Shapiro, 2020).

The loosely organized community is predominately virtual and comprises young males, the majority of whom identify as heterosexual and racially white, and congregate on online forums both on the dark web and live web (ibid.). A recent survey of one of the largest Incel forums found these young men most often live with their parents, have never been intimate, nor have they held a meaningful relationship with a woman; respondents from North America and Europe made up over 80% of respondents (ibid.). 

The Incel community lends its name from an online blog created in 1997 titled “Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project.” Websites like “Alana’s” were created to give individuals an outlet to discuss and express their frustrations about modern sexuality and dating (ibid.). However, over the last two decades, the Incel moniker was coopted and associated more widely with terrorism, alt-right ideology, white supremacy, and anti-feminism (Baker, 2016; Maxwell et al., 2020). Incels believe there is an injustice within society, “wrought by genetic determinism and female preferences that have relegated them to the margins of society” (Hoffman et al., 2020). 

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks and designates hate groups, now classifies male supremacists as a hate group, yet research is sparse on Incel ideology (2018). This is primarily due to the nature of online communications in Incel forums. The internet allows male supremacists to collaborate, connect, and sustain a collective persona (Gina, 2019; Maxwell, 2020). Nevertheless, the community is not homogenous in its adherence to extreme fringes of the ideology, nor is it easily trackable as new forums are created to replace ones that are banned or shut down. This results in most knowledge production on the subject, which is sparse, focusing on qualitative research methods, such as thematic analysis, from posts on online forums, and the inability to produce studies in more traditional, or even quantitative, methods. Maxwell and colleagues note, “Though Incel forums were at this point spread across cyberspace rather than confined to those main platforms, they nonetheless began to espouse similarly edgy and at times extremist sentiment. This in turn created a feedback loop where outrageous statements were intended to generate an escalatory spiral of reactions and responses that disguised their true aggressiveness—a behavior known as trolling or 'shitposting'” (2020). The “shitposting,” in addition to a culture that is layered in satire and sarcasm, makes it difficult to ascertain, and easy to overestimate, the legitimacy of actual threats (ibid.).

The Ideology Behind the Incel Movement

Researchers from the University of Exeter’s Centre for Advanced International Studies, Stephane J. Baele, Lewys Brace, and Travis G. Coan, find that, “…features of [the Incel] worldview…are known to be associated with an increased likelihood of support for, or engagement in, violence” (2019). In their research, they suggest that violent state actors’ worldviews, “display distinct features in terms of both their logics of social categorization and explanation, and that these characteristics play a key role in violence,” (ibid.). 

In the article by Baele and team on the 2018 Toronto attacks, they find that worldviews are founded upon the logic of social categorization involving a logic of explanation, meaning social cognition works not only with static categories but also with categories of difference that interact and dynamically coexist. They note that “The ‘worldview’ concept is paradoxical; both at once widely used and ill-defined,” and to understand the Incel worldview, “ [they] adopt a cognition orientated conceptualization of the term…understood as a set of interconnected beliefs and assumptions about the physical and social reality that together form a coherent interpretive lens through which this reality – and the worldview holder’s existence – is understood” (ibid.). The team lends from Peters and Slovic definition of worldviews as “generalized attitudes toward the world and its social organization, […] orienting dispositions, serving to guide people’s responses in complex situations” (1996). 

Worldviews are not only cognitive processes, such as boundary establishment and categorization but also encompass the use of schema and scripts, finding that worldviews are, “not only descriptive but also prescriptive, in that they inevitably involve axiological (values, morals) as well as a praxeological (prescriptions for behaviors) dimensions” (Baele et al., 2019). Following Reicher and colleagues, the team of researchers from Exeter specifically work on the understanding that “the orientation of an audience to a given target depends upon how ‘we’ are construed, how ‘they’ are construed, and the relationship that is put together between these two constructions,” in relation to violent political actors and extremists (ibid.).

Research has focused primarily on the motivations behind radicalization and the history of the ideology. Over time, within this less moderated and more hostile online forums, arguments, “dissected the causes of Inceldom—arguing whether looks or personality were primarily responsible—and, relatedly whether it was a temporary condition confined to adolescence and perhaps young adulthood, or instead a permanent state of being in which these men were irrevocably imprisoned” (Hoffman, 2020). From these early arguments, “A militant Incel identity…began to coalesce with a demonstrably harder edge than before. The difference between the new lamentations and prior ones was the belief that those embracing the label “Incel” must act to take control of their lives and exact revenge for the dismissive and derogatory way they were treated” (ibid.).

Central to the growth of Incel ideology is extreme loneliness that is exasperated by mental illness, with over 70% of respondents from a March 2020 survey from the largest Incel forum, saying they suffer from depression; over a quarter self-identified as being on the autism spectrum (Hoffman et al., 2020). Maxwell and team (2020), pulling from Burgess and colleagues' work (2001), find that “Research suggests that the motivation for identifying as an Incel may be the desire to overcome social isolation by joining an online community.” Notably, the adoption of hegemonic or toxic masculinist beliefs is not the initial motivation (Ging, 2019). The support received from positive social interactions and overall social inclusion is necessary for overcoming life experiences that are challenging; social inclusion and connection is positively correlated with overall well-being and self-esteem (Maxwell et al., 2020). 

The extreme loneliness ultimately leads to searching for a community and to hegemonic and toxic masculinist beliefs within the shared found community. Maxwell and team, pulling from Jewkes and Morrell, state hegemonic masculinity is, “…a set of values, established by men in power that functions to include and exclude, and to organize society in gender unequal ways. It combines several features: a hierarchy of masculinities, differential access among men to power (over women and other men), and the interplay between men’s identity, men’s ideals, interactions, power, and patriarchy,” and find that hegemonic masculinity validates and encourages the belief in the dominance of patriarchal masculinity over women and lesser forms of masculinities (2019). Messerschmidt, in his work on adolescent masculinity challenges and sexual violence, found that adolescent boys who shift their views to ones of hegemonic masculinity are more likely to commit sexual violence and view men as dominant over women (2001). Bolstered by aligning with men who hold similar views, rituals are established that centre on conquering women through displaying masculine power to subdue a female partner (Grazien, 2007).

The Incel worldview is founded upon intertwined beliefs: society is hierarchical, and one’s place is determined by physical characteristics, determined by women who are the source of this hierarchy (Hoffman et al., 2020) At the top of the hierarchy are idealized and conventionally beautiful men and women, referred to as “Chads” and “Stacys,” respectively. In the middle are “normies” with Incels at the bottom (ibid.). Incel lore purports that a limited number of Chads attract the majority of Stacys, resulting in unattractive women desiring normies and no women left for Incels to hold relationships with. Furthermore, Incels differentiate themselves from normies, not only by physical appearance but also through their belief that they have gained insights that normies do not hold, granting Incels a privileged position in understanding the world. Incels believe, “…they are destined for mediocrity, social isolation, and abject loneliness” (ibid.). Accordingly, these intertwined beliefs produce a second core belief: women are inherently shallow, making dating decisions on physical attractiveness, weight, race, and height (ibid.).

Violent Acts Committed by Incels

Young, in an article for the Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, discusses what constitutes right-wing extremism, pulling from Public Safety Canada, finding that these ideologies are traditionally driven by fear and hatred, and includes a variety of groups and online communities, with similar veins of issues and grievances (2020). A 2019 report from the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right noted that the Incel movement is “part of a growing trend of radical-right movements that are anguished by the success of neoliberalism,” particularly immigration and women’s empowerment (Gilmore, 2019; Hoffman et al., 2020). The individuals that are radicalized under the umbrella of right-wing extremism, such as Incels, “use low sophistication and low resources tactics to commit their violent activity…capable of delivering the high casualty- and public-generating events” (Young, 2020). Hoffman and colleagues discuss the history of various violent acts over the last two decades, primarily in North America, in Canada and the United States:

In May 2014, Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old from California, attempted to murder women at a sorority house at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after violently killing and mutilating his three male roommates. However, after failing to gain entry to the sorority house, he indiscriminately killed random people on the streets through vehicle ramming and shootings in Isla Vista, California. He killed six people and injured fourteen others before committing suicide. He is now regarded as the “patron saint” of the Incel movement, inspiring other Incel adherents to “go ER,” meaning to go on a violent killing spree (ibid.). He left a 133-page manifesto titled My Twisted World (2014), stating: 

“All I have ever wanted was to love women…but their behavior has only earned my hatred. I want to have sex with them, and make them feel good, but they would be disgusted at the prospect. They have no sexual attraction towards me. It is such an injustice, and I vehemently questioned why things had to be this way. Why do women behave like vicious, stupid, cruel animals who take delight in my suffering and starvation? Why do they have a perverted sexual attraction for the most brutish of men instead of gentlemen of intelligence? I concluded that women are flawed. There is something mentally wrong with the way their brains are wired, as if they haven’t evolved from animal-like thinking. They are incapable of reason or thinking rationally. They are like animals, completely controlled by their primal, depraved emotions and impulses. That is why they are attracted to barbaric, wild, beast-like men. They are beasts themselves. Beasts should not be able to have any rights in a civilized society. If their wickedness is not contained, the whole of humanity will be held back from advancement to a more civilized state. Women should not have the right to choose who to mate with. That choice should be made for them by civilized men of intelligence”

Inspired by Rodger’s example, Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old, killed 10 people, including eight women, by striking pedestrians with a rented van on a busy street in Toronto, Canada in April 2018 (Hoffman et al., 2020; Joseph & Abedi, 2019). Investigators were able to identify Minassian’s motive through a social media post that stated, “Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!” (Hoffman et al., 2020) (4chan is an online forum Incels have historically used to connect).

In November of 2018, a 40-year-old man, Scott Beierle, from Florida, killed two women at a hot yoga studio then committed suicide. He historically adhered to Incel ideologies and posted videos and music on online platforms, “outlining his misogynistic views and expressing support for his Incel predecessors” (ibid.). 

These acts were specific in targeting locales that would likely be populated by women: Rodger originally targeted a sorority house before moving on to streets of Isla Vista and the UC campus. Although Minassian stated his violent actions were primarily targeting “Chads,” his victims were predominantly women. Beierle targeted a hot yoga studio, so he was certain women would be present; one man was at the yoga studio, yet he was the only one not shot, but rather pistol-whipped (ibid.).

Three additional acts of mass violence have been recorded as being inspired by Incel ideology, but not directly perpetrated solely for the furtherance of the Incel agenda. Christopher Harper-Mercer killed nine persons in October 2015 at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. A 21-year old former student of Aztec High School, William Atchison, murdered two students in December of 2017. In February 2018, Nikolas Cruz killed 17 persons, and another at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. All three expressed admiration for Elliot Rodger and a fascination with Incel ideology. However, it is believed the attacks were not solely motivated by Incel ideology (ibid).

Policy Implications

Unfortunately, Incels who are more inclined towards violence have been emboldened as right-wing extremism becomes more prevalent in society. A January 2020 Texas Department of Public Safety report on domestic terrorism threats noted that “...the violence demonstrated by Incels in the past decade, coupled with extremely violent online rhetoric, suggests this particular threat could soon match, or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types” (Hoffman et al., 2020). Incels have a warped worldview based upon aggrieved entitlement, which, “inspires revenge against those who have wronged you, it is the compensation for humiliation. Humiliation is emasculation: humiliate someone and you take away his manhood… [to Incels] humiliation must be avenged, or you cease to be a man. Aggrieved entitlement is a gendered emotion, a fusion of that humiliating loss of manhood and the moral obligation and entitlement to get it back” (Kalish & Kimmel, 2010). Researchers contend that countering the prevalence of Incel ideology must be addressed through a combination of 1) education, 2) greater mental health resources for young men, and 3) greater monitoring and management of Incel online communities to shut down forums and track violent rhetoric.

Young notes that, “Education is the single most significant tool in mitigating the growth of extremism…in order to mitigate the growth of extremist ideology, it is vital to educate the upcoming generations” (2020). Young specifically focuses on mitigation through strengthening critical thinking in young people to counter misinformation and false narratives and strengthen social legitimacy to combat intolerance. He notes that knowledge is a powerful tool to address social justice and equity issues, noting that Canadian (and American) society is, “rife with socialization agents, be they schools, religious institutions, youth and community groups, or parents” (ibid.). Governments must leverage these socialization agents to inoculate young people against extreme ideologies that are founded in a skewed perception of the world. 

Hoffman and colleagues discuss at length the need to devote greater, “resources to community initiatives designed to counter violent extremism” through socialization agents that are already prevalent in society (2020). The creator of the original Incel blog, “Alana,” founded such an initiative called Love Not Anger, a non-profit organization with the mission of pushing back against the hatred and violence within the Incel movement by addressing the underlying loneliness within these forums. 

Further, technology companies and governments must collaborate more to counter extremist violent ideologies. Current international efforts to counter online radicalism include the U.K. government’s April 2019 White Paper titled Online Harms, which states, “If we surrender our online spaces to those who spread hate, abuse, fear and vitriolic content, then we will all lose…ambitious plans for a new system of accountability and oversight for tech companies [must move] far beyond self-regulation” (Hoffman et al., 2020). Following the violent mass attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, the country’s Prime Minister, Jessica Arden, hosted an international summit to address extremism online and the role of technology companies, especially social media companies, in its propagation (ibid.). The resulting declaration, signed by 50 countries, states that states must, “counter the drivers of terrorism and violent extremism by strengthening the resilience and inclusiveness of our societies to enable them to resist terrorist and violent extremist ideologies, including through education, building media literacy to help counter distorted terrorist and violent extremist narratives, and the fight against inequality” (Hoffman et al., 2020).

David Futrelle, an expert on Incels and Incel online communities, agrees with the conclusion that there must be greater enforcement by governments and technology companies in limiting hate speech online. He notes that “Every time [Incel] groups…get booted from a platform or a web host for breaking the rules, it takes them time and effort to regroup – and it makes their sites harder for the unwary to stumble upon. We may not be able to erase the hate, but we can restrict their hate speech, and that at least is a small step in the right direction” (2018). Baele and colleagues concur, finding that, “The role of the Internet in enabling the formation and radicalization of this community through echo-chamber dynamics is evident: without a way to relate and discuss, these individuals would have had no way to recognize themselves as “Incels” and learn the culture and particular idiom that cements the Incel worldview” (2019). Monitoring and managing these online communities are essential to counteract future violent attacks and combat against the extremist ideology.

With studies showing the prevalence of mental illnesses in Incel communities, Hoffman and team find that increasing mental health resources for young men is vital to countering radicalization. Mental health issues often surface in the suicidal ideation and rhetoric that is prevalent in Incel online forums. Mitigation is necessary to divert individuals from committing acts of violence, which can be accomplished through proactively addressing suicidal tendencies and mental illness in Incel communities online. Addressing aggrieved entitlement through counselling services could help reduce the trend towards mass violence by these young men. 

Areas for Further Research

The analysis and evaluations of the worldview of Incels thus far have been nearly ignored, while knowledge production on other violent actors’ worldviews through online activity has been scrutinized at length (Baele et al., 2019). Unfortunately, the scholarly literature analyzing the Incel phenomenon is scarce (Hoffman et al., 2020). Baele and colleagues note further areas for research, centring around seven avenues (2019):

1. the analysis focused on the use of images as vectors of meaning in Incel online forums,

2. the emotional dimension of the linguistic structure underpinning the Incel worldview, and how this emotional dimension sustains violent action tendencies,

3. comprehensively mine and map the online Incel territory,

4. how and why the Incel worldview appears to share traits with radical conservative and white supremacist ideology,

5. establish a better understanding of the path towards radicalization for young men and the non-communicational dynamics involved,

6. explore the observation of a limited group of “thought leaders” that are particularly active in the online forums and how they shape or lead the discussions, and

7. greater comparative analysis on how violence becomes ingrained in certain worldviews.

Conclusion

The spread of Incel ideology is being bolstered by the rise of right-wing extremism around the world. The threat of further mass attacks by Incels remains high. Their worldview is skewed around hegemonic and toxic masculinity, and the ideology is propagated through online communities with tens of thousands of daily users. To combat the ideology, policymakers must explore opportunities to increase education in critical thought, create community initiatives that centre on combating extremist ideologies, increase mental health resources for young men, and work with private technology companies to manage and monitor the online forums where Incels collaborate and connect. 

Additionally, there are several areas in which greater research is warranted. Despite the increased threat and violent attacks, by Incels, there is a lack of knowledge production to understand this new phenomenon. There are certain barriers to this research, primarily the issues of tracking and mapping online communities, varying degrees of extreme beliefs under the Incel umbrella, and understanding how to combat extremist ideology that is spread online. Further to this point, the increasing use of a virtual world has resulted in less in-person socialization, and a different set of social rules online compared to in-person. The increasing use of this virtual world has instigated a form of loneliness that is pervasive in younger people. This loneliness is the impetus for joining Incel communities online. As such, addressing the epidemic of loneliness is paramount to achieving a world with less violence based on ideological extremes.

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Works Cited

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