Men who hate women: The misogyny of involuntarily celibate men

Abstract

This article uses computational data and social science theories to analyze the misogynistic discourse of the involuntary celibate (“incel”) community. We analyzed every comment ( N = 3,686,110) produced over 42 months on a popular incel discussion board and found that nearly all active participants use misogynistic terms. Participants used misogynistic terms nearly one million times and at a rate 2.4 times greater than their use of neutral terms for women. The majority of participants’ use of misogynistic terms does not increase or decrease with post frequency, suggesting that members arrive (rather than become) misogynistic. We discuss these findings in relation to theories of intersectionality, masculinity, and sexism. We likewise discuss potential policies for mitigating incel misogyny and similar online discourse.

Identifying Pathways to the Incel Community and Where to Intervene: A Qualitative Study with Former Incels

“…Beyond this common tenet, many other aspects of Incel beliefs vary; some endorse violent misogyny while others resent the characterization of their group as hateful, stating that they harbor no hatred for women and are simply sad and lonely (Daly & Nichols, 2024). Analyses of Incel forums shows that the online content they create and consume is rife with misogynistic language, though some Incels claim that these posts do not represent their genuine beliefs (Daly & Nichols, 2024;Halpin et al, 2023).…”