The Bitter Club of 'Involuntary Celibate' Men

"I first detail the type of subordination incels argue they experience -- a social bias in favour of attractive people they call lookism."

"[According to incels Wiki, 'lookism' is defined as a prejudice or discrimination based on one's appearance.]"

"[They claim their physical deficiencies, disadvantaged by] Lookism [is what makes women dismiss them]." 

“They label themselves as victims, they see themselves as victims. They are ‘victimized’ by women in society and they think that the main reason why they’re victims is this form of social bias called ‘lookism,’ and they talk about lookism quite a bit.”

“These guys are not just sad, lonely people who are upset with themselves and maybe sexually frustrated because they’re still virgins. These are guys who want women treated like property, talk about murdering women, talk about stalking women, talk about completely removing women’s rights, celebrate things like the Taliban victory in Afghanistan because it was a loss for women . . . celebrate things like the overturning of Roe v Wade."

“So, they’re not just guys who are sad and lonely and looking for love. They are really guys who are aggressively misogynistic and want to see women harmed physically and socially."

"They’re all over the planet and they’re a diverse group of men."

 Michael Halpin, assistant professor, department of sociology and social anthropology, Dalhousie University

Sociology professor Michael Halpin completed one of the largest studies thus far on the Incel movement. The Signal

"I get zero matches on Tinder with professional photographs, the most disgusting subhuman folks want nothing to do with me."

"This is despite me maintaining acceptable hygiene and well above-average physical fitness, and having impeccable etiquette."

"I am an absolute grotesque sub-human."

Incel community member 

"Wrist size is important .. wrist correlates almost perfectly with frame, and  you need a strong natural frame to be considered a 'real man'."

Incel community member

"Incels simultaneously situate themselves as failed hopeless losers while celebrating, encouraging and participating in violence against women."

"This paper analyzes weaponized subordination, wherein men strategically use their perceived subordinate masculine status to legitimate their degradation of women. The paper draws on a qualitative analysis of 9,062 comments made on a popular involuntary celibate (“incel”) discussion board. Incels are an online community of men who define themselves by their inability to participate in heterosexual sex/relationships. Incel forums are characterized by self-loathing, anger, and misogyny, with several incels having committed murders (e.g., Elliot Rodger)."

Newly published study

A study recently published in Sociologists for Women in Society based its conclusions partially on the examination of some 9,000 comments that were posted by men identifying themselves as 'involuntarily celibate'. The comments were posted on a popular incel discussion board where men feel free to post their ideas of their state of being and that subordinate masculinity entitles them and legitimizes the degradation of women through male supremacy.

The very term itself describing the emotional attitudes of men who feel themselves to have been unfairly judged as insufficiently masculine and attractive to women was first spoken of by a Canadian university student in the 1990s who initiated the online community on behalf of "anybody of any gender who was lonely, had never had sex or who hadn't had a relationship in a long time". On the site people were free to discuss their personal experiences.

By 2000 she was no longer involved in the website. The incel community was gradually led by extremists gathering to discuss hatred of women on the fora now mostly populated by men of all types and persuasions and backgrounds who view themselves as being "ugly, genetic trash" whose domination by other men and rejection by women has left them in a state of self-loathing, anger and misogyny, according to the study.

The study's author, Michael Halpin, analyzed the discourse he sought out on line for a deeper understanding of the incel justification of their misogyny. There is a penchant for incels to describe their poor self-image in emasculated terms such as "Manlets" for feminine-looking men of short physical stature, "jawlets" for men with weak jawlines, "wristlets" for those with small wrists, and "lanklets" for tall men with slender frames.

 

Their physical deficiencies, disadvantaged by 'lookism' is the primary focus, they believe, leading women to dismiss them, according to Dr. Halpin; a massive inferiority complex which the men then project onto women. The most infamous man associated with 'involuntary celibacy' is Elliot Rodger for violently murdering six people in Isla Vista, California. He is referred to within the incel community by some of its members as "Saint Elliot", given praise for stabbing three men to death and shooting three women, and another male student.

 

Done there, he drove through the city shooting at pedestrians and striking others with his car, finally committing suicide with a gun, shooting himself in the head. He left a 137-page manifesto and YouTube video recounting his search for vengeance against those responsible for women rejecting him.

Getty Images