Competing in Misery: Incels and self-worth, community and staying on the forum
2021 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
In recent years, a group known as “Incels” has caught the public eye.
The group consists of men who believe themselves to be in “involuntary celibacy”, without the means to ever finda sexual or romantic partner.
The community is predominantly based online, organized in networks and forums, where a worldview consisting of anti-feminism, sexual determinismand a hatred of modern society thrives.
But why is the community successful, and how does so many men end up on the forums? In this thesis, the mechanisms of the incel-forum are examined by conducting a netnography on one of the larges incel-forums, incels.is, and evaluate the findings through a sociological lens.
With this perspective, it is possible to understand incels as a societal phenomenon rather than something unique and individualistic; because even though incels are unusual in their extreme rhetoric and actions,the mechanisms that influence them are not.
By understanding incels within the specific context of love and sex in modernity, where romantic and sexual relationships have becomean important source for a sense of self-worth and romance and sexuality is in a state of anomie, the level of misery expressed by members of the group becomes understandable.
To combat this misery the power of groups becomes evident, where the expressions of control, status within the group, establishing group borders and creating a sense of belonging all contribute to protecting and strengthening the community.
For incels, the forum becomes a place where meaning is created. In a state of anomie, incels reject society and turn to retreatism, where the group becomes the place where they create their own setof strict rules and morals for the members of the community to follow.
Karlén, Rebecca
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Sociology.2021 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]
In recent years, a group known as “Incels” has caught the public eye.
The group consists of men who believe themselves to be in “involuntary celibacy”, without the means to ever finda sexual or romantic partner.
The community is predominantly based online, organized in networks and forums, where a worldview consisting of anti-feminism, sexual determinismand a hatred of modern society thrives.
But why is the community successful, and how does so many men end up on the forums? In this thesis, the mechanisms of the incel-forum are examined by conducting a netnography on one of the larges incel-forums, incels.is, and evaluate the findings through a sociological lens.
With this perspective, it is possible to understand incels as a societal phenomenon rather than something unique and individualistic; because even though incels are unusual in their extreme rhetoric and actions,the mechanisms that influence them are not.
By understanding incels within the specific context of love and sex in modernity, where romantic and sexual relationships have becomean important source for a sense of self-worth and romance and sexuality is in a state of anomie, the level of misery expressed by members of the group becomes understandable.
To combat this misery the power of groups becomes evident, where the expressions of control, status within the group, establishing group borders and creating a sense of belonging all contribute to protecting and strengthening the community.
For incels, the forum becomes a place where meaning is created. In a state of anomie, incels reject society and turn to retreatism, where the group becomes the place where they create their own setof strict rules and morals for the members of the community to follow.
