Male-dominated online spaces threaten the safety of women
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Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of pedophilia and rape.
A recent report regarding the incel movement has revealed that rhetoric within online forums hosting such a mentality pose a rising threat towards women.
“Incel,” originally meaning involuntarily celibate, was a term first coined in the nineties to encourage others to share their own experiences. In the years since, the term has been adopted largely by heterosexual men who often harbor animosity towards women as a whole, based on the belief that they are being denied sex they feel entitled to. These men commonly connect online through various forums like incels.wiki, Reddit and even Twitter.
While the majority of incels do not commit heinous crimes, it would be remiss to not highlight how this dangerous ideology online bleeds into real-life treatment of women.
These cases included attacks, like one committed by self-described incel Elliot Rodger, who went on a stabbing and shooting spree in 2014 that left six dead. The first act of violence motivated by the incel ideology that was officially labeled an act of terrorism occurred in 2020 after a Toronto spa was attacked, leaving one dead and two injured. Both perpetrators cite their involuntary celibacy as a motive for committing such attacks.
Though these instances are statistically rarer, even incels who do not commit atrocities propagate dangerous content on incel forums. An analysis of the forum conducted by the Center for Countering Digital Hate showed that members post regarding rape every 29 minutes, with the vast majority agreeing that rape is permissable and even beneficial for the perpetrators. Of all members, over 50% support pedophilia.
The most popular forum, incels.wiki, specifically targets men they label as “normies” in order to spread these views to those who wouldn’t typically hold them. Many men who fall into this trap are exactly how they sound: normies. These are normal men who are typically introverted and lacking in sexual experience, which exacerbates feelings of deep loneliness. However, once falling down the incel rabbit hole, these men become increasingly radical, fueled by others on the site. The result is a group of enormously miserable and misogynistic men who blame everything for their celibacy, from their bone structure to women’s dating habits. Their sexual insecurity manifests into a violently misogynistic outlook inflamed by their own self-hatred.
Commiserating with others who face similar experiences may be appealing, but this self-pity presents a slippery slope of defaulting into anti-women sentiments. If unchecked, the participation in vile discussions could translate into how a member treats women outside of the internet. On a larger scale, this could mean motivated attacks, but does not necessarily just apply to the more radical reactions.
Stephanie Zaso | Digital Design Director
If a man internalizes the dehumanization of women that are rampant on such forums, this would logically affect his treatment of women in his life. Though most will not extend this treatment to homicide, it is not illogical to assume incels will participate in the degradation of women on a smaller scale outside of a forum.
However, some measure of sympathy is in order for men who fall into the rabbit hole of incel ideology out of sheer loneliness. Many who adopt the title incel start as impressionable teenagers who feel as though they’ve missed a developmental benchmark. This isolation leads them to forums that have publicly stated their mission to be the conversion of such vulnerable people. Already at-risk men and boys being faced with such an apparent threat would understandably be susceptible to adoption of this toxicity.
This does not act as an excuse for the terrible rhetoric they spout, but it does offer an understanding that the incel community is clearly predatory. Intimate relationships are such an essential hallmark of the human experience; someone lacking in them for any reason would likely be depressed and are therefore easily influenced. Any outcast would seek a community that they feel so excluded from, and the incel community is looking for exactly that breed of desperation.
It is easy to fall into feelings of hopelessness when considering that the incel problem as digital misogyny has presented itself as more and more of a threat. The spread of misogyny has only increased since the internet provided a vehicle to communicate such messages. However, falling into despair does not remedy the issue.
Within communities and schools, greater credence can be lent towards these men who show warning signs. Compassion needs to be extended. Instead of shunning a man who finds himself falling down the wrong path, mentorship and intervention can be the answer to the real-life threats digital misogyny poses for women.
Summer Brannan Taylor is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences
