Conclusion:
What characterizes incels as a group in today's society?
Incels is characterized as a group consisting exclusively of men with very misogynistic opinions. They also have several characteristics that, among other things, distinguish them from the rest of the mannosphere. In this thesis, the purpose was to uncover these and discuss them using theories of masculinity and subculture. A key feature of the empirical review is that the black pill philosophy is the basic pillar of incels' thinking. The key is that one considers society as a hierarchy where they are allowed to have sex with women at the top. Here, incels place Chad at the top and himself at the bottom. This philosophy also reduces women's sexual desires to be almost exclusively about men's appearance. Blackpill has further created a mysogynistic image of women for incels. Attitudes towards women have become so negative that they have developed their own vocabulary of derogatory words for them.
My findings also suggest that blackpill has reinforced incelssitt negative image of itself. They see themselves as inferior because they consider their appearance to be bad. According to blackpill, this will then mean that they are not allowed to achieve contact with the opposite sex. Another prominent feature is the battle over who is the most truecel. Since a key incel traits is to have a bad appearance and have little contact with women, this creates a kind of striving to be the worst at these points. Incels who consider their appearance as the worst possible, often due to physical features that can not be changed, and so-called KHHVcels are those that are considered the most true cell and thus the most worthy member of the group. Based on the analysis, it is clear that incels have several characteristics which agrees with Ross Haenfler's description of a subculture. The most prominent feature is that incels to a large extent common opinions and ideas. The Blackpill philosophy is the idea that separates incels from the mannosphere and the rest of society. It is even a criterion to become a member of a website to be within this philosophy. The marginalization from the rest of society is also a subcultural trait with incels as a group. This can come from the feeling of not being good enough, especially considering how one expresses one's own gender. Incels is greatly affected by expectations
Society has to masculinity as they almost adore Chadsom for an ideal of masculinity.
At the same time, they also choose to marginalize from this ideal by giving up striving to become like Chad. Taking black pills also means realizing that you can never be good enough. Through the discussion, I have found several characteristics of incels that fit with the concept of subculture. At the same time, some things that do not fit with a traditional subculture have also been revealed. This has especially been related to the internet and how incels do not meet physically and thus do not have a special expression in the form of a clothing style, music genre, meeting place, etc. For this reason, I will hesitate to state that incels are a subculture. Whether one can say that incels are a subculture or not, requires more exploration and often the opportunity to ask incels what they themselves think they are.
At the same time, this was not the goal of the thesis itself, but rather a tool to uncover more characteristics of the group. Earlier in the thesis I also wrote that one of the reasons for wanting to study subcultures is that it can reveal major problems in society. which the group has chosen to stay away from. In the case of incels, they can tell about what traditional masculine ideals have been produced from society. Subcultures can also be significant for members, because they can create a community between people who have felt marginalized by society. When it comes to incels, this community has at times proved to have gone too far.
Although only a small fraction of incels have committed mass murder, incels' basic ideas can be considered destructive and even dangerous. These are ideas that one does not want to spread to the rest of society, but which are reinforced within the incel environment. In a recent article written by Leiif Edward Ottesen Kennair, he points out that many incels seem to have mental disorders such as depression, autism, body dysmorphic disorder and suicidal thoughts (Kennair, 2020). According to Kennairet, the problem here is that it is difficult to distinguish between mental disorders and what he describes as uggen ideology (Kennair, 2020).
Many incels need help and empathy from the rest of society despite extreme attitudes and opinions. This can help incels get away from the environment and it can help prevent more mass murders in the future.
