Blog: The Rising Problem of Incel Culture in This Generation

What do you think of when you hear the term ‘Incel’? You probably think of it as a word to embarrass your friends with or a joke online to poke fun at. However, the rise of ‘involuntary celibacy’ culture in young men has become increasingly alarming in the age of social media. With access to platforms such as Reddit and TikTok, the facility at which misogyny and victimization is spreading and igniting within the male youth is disturbing. It reinforces patriarchal norms as it encourages the traditional ideas that men should be sexually and physically dominant within a relationship and women are subpar to them. Incel culture contributes to the everlasting problems with gender politics as it aims to challenge feminism and women’s autonomy. Therefore, the growing matter of ‘Incel culture’ is a political issue as it concerns gender politics and power.

The young male youth are becoming intertwined and engulfed into ‘Incel’ culture, short for involuntary celibate, and growing more out of touch with reality and the balance between men and women. In the last two decades, social media platforms have built communities labelled the ‘manosphere’ which consist of groups of misogynistic men who view themselves as victims of women and genetics. The 'manosphere’ promotes the ‘red pill theory’ that suggests society is biased towards men and catered to women’s interests. Scarily enough, the immense amount of media unknowingly promoting this issue contributes to the insecurities of these men, leading to what they believe their last option is, violence. Incel ‘hero’ Elliot Rodger is a perfect example of this as he considered himself to be ‘’the ideal magnificent gentleman’’ and in his own words, ‘a victim’ days before he killed 6 people. Rodger became a martyr for the incel movement as he embodied their radicalised views; that sex should be owed to men by women and that violence is a necessary reaction to being denied that ‘necessity’. The fact that the media tends to focus on mental health after murderers go on a rampage rather than their worldview built on contempt alarms me in regard to how the next generations will view mental health as an excuse for violence. That should deeply alarm society. It doesn’t help that influential figureheads are partly to blame for promoting a patriarchal dominance and praising the bare minimum from the male youth. While Trump himself is not an incel figure, his rhetoric mirrors that of which the manosphere thrives on, such as frequent anti-feminist stances and gender resentment in away in which appeals to the male youth as a way of ‘reclaiming’ hierarchy. Characteristics of incel beliefs are evident in Trump’s propaganda, especially the slogan ‘Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you’’. The blatant dismissal of gender diversity aligns with the manosphere’s mockery of equality and frames inclusion as unusual, appealing to traditional gender norms and the incel belief that ordinary men are ignored and replaced by the female species. Incel culture is becoming more apparent due to this and the availability of it online, making it an increasingly important topic in politics.

Politically, the dangers of this movement become clear when viewed through Luke’s third face of power which highlights how power can shape people’s preferences and perceptions of reality, until they view them as natural and common. It’s crucial to understand how Incel culture strongly manipulates this dynamic and how it is a genuine political threat rather than an online subculture, as their ideology turns into ‘common sense’. The majority of members the movement attract have characteristics in common that make it more likely for them to internalise misogyny. Some of these include being lonely, being previously bullied and a history of mental health problems, which strongly insinuates how social skills are interlinked with naivety and insecurity. This is evident through a study conducted by researchers from the US and the UK where they surveyed over 500 participants and concluded that in regard to mental health, 37% of incels admitted they had suicidal thoughts frequently and 48% were extremely lonely exemplifying that incel culture is rooted in social and structural problems and not just pessimism, making it a political issue. The fact that an ideology that has been moulded and popularised online has the power to reshape political attitudes through hatred is deeply concerning especially considering the lack of regulation enforced to prevent it. The danger of the movement is becoming more apparent to figureheads, evident as Prime Minister Keir Starmer highlighted that the show ‘Adolescence’ (exploring the incel movement in young boys) ‘’shone a light on misogyny, on online content, and this sense of children, particularly boys, getting drawn into this world’’. The fact that political leaders recognise the harm of this radicalisation and gender-based hatred emphasises the societal and political problem this movement is bringing for the easily influenced youth, and why society should be aware of it as well.

One last crucial thing to recognise in how this movement is an important political issue is through the epistemic bubble incels isolate themselves within. Epistemology is the study of knowledge and incels reject justified knowledge to contain themselves within their own circle of radicalised belief where they only trust viewpoints from ‘ideal’ men that they deem worthy. This exemplifies how misinformation becomes a driving force politically as it determines how people vote and view their leaders etc... Despite being online, eventually these views translate into real-life attitudes and actions, spilling directly into public debate, and political discourse. This is important as it creates a generational crisis of young men adopting misogynistic and hateful views of women and society, emphasising the urgency surrounding this movement.

Ultimately, understanding the gravity of this growing movement by concluding it creates political discourse from radicalisation and extremism online proves it’s an important political issue everyone needs to be aware of. As I’ve shown, it operates through Luke’s third face of power, creating out of touch beliefs and perceptions in which misogyny is normalised. This is why the movement’s growth is important politically but also societally.