The sick world of incels: men who feel rejected so turn to revenge

We talk to an academic from BBC Three’s new documentary ‘The Secret Life Of Incels’ about what motivates incels to leave internet forums and commit violent real-life crimes

Incels themselves might not be pleased about it, but the term “incel” was actually started by a woman. In 1993, Alana – known by her first name only, presumably for her own safety – created an online relationship support group for people like herself, who were experiencing unwanted sexual inactivity, to discuss their thoughts and feelings with other people. She called the forum’s newsletter “Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project”, which she shorted to INVCEL and then INCEL. “It was a friendly place,” she told the BBC years later, adding that a couple even met over the site and got married. As for Alana, she eventually worked out that she was queer, started dating, and stopped focussing on the forum.

Twenty five years later, "incel" has a much more sinister meaning than Alana had ever intended. The term describes a group of men who define themselves by being involuntarily celibate. That is, they are not having sex but want to have sex and they blame women for their shortcomings in this area, with some incels becoming violent as a result. Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, an expert on incels and one of the people behind BBC Three’s new documentary, Inside The Secret World Of Incels, reminds us that incels are just one form of online misogynist. These groups range from MRAs (men’s rights activists), to PUAs (pick up artists), to people who don’t identify with any specific acronym but get their kicks from abusing women online anyway. Incels are an extreme form of this culture, who desire to voice their anger to others or to seek out revenge.


https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/45251/1/incel-culture-forums-bbc-three-documentary

No wonder no woman wants them.