Putting the ‘Cult’ in ‘Subculture’: Investigating Group Identity Formation Among Incels
by Nathan Aurnel Doras B00723734
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Sociology
Findings
Prolific users of the incels.is forum and low ranked users were similar in that both groups made an abundance of posts in which users engaged in discursive distancing, fortifying boundaries, hostile sexism, criticism of outgroup members and references to the ‘clown world.’ However, the behaviors of these groups on the forum differed in some interesting ways.
For one, lower ranked users on the forum were much more likely to engage in hostile sexism and discursive distancing, doing so two to three times more often than prolific users.
Low ranked users were also more likely to ask questions about incel beliefs and more likely to explicitly reflect agreement with other users, especially when engaging in hostile sexism or when expressing their frustrations around their perceived lack of sex appeal and female interest. Low ranked users were also more likely to be subject to suspicion by other members and forced to defend themselves.
Users with new accounts were often accused of being members of law enforcement or ‘fakecels’ by other users on the forum. To my understanding, a ‘fakecel’ can refer to an individual who is simply posing as an incel, or one who wrongfully believes they are an incel due to temporary low selfesteem or a ‘dry spell’ in one’s romantic life.
Conversely, prolific users were more likely to question the authenticity of other users, and to make statements policing inceldom. These included references to ‘fakecels’ and ‘truecels.’ To my understanding, a ‘truecel’ is an individual who has fully accepted black-pill ideology as truth. These individuals have given up on any hope of finding a partner or being included in dominant society and have actively decided to stop pursuing sex and relationships with women.
Prolific users were also more likely to criticize or ridicule former members and other incel forums. Additionally, prolific users were more likely to have made recognizable social connections with other users on the forum, and as a result were more likely to engage in casual interactions and banter with other forum members.
The posts on r/IncelExit, a subreddit dedicated to supporting men leave the incel community, came from a variety of sources, men and women included. Some former incels shared stories of why they joined the community and what inspired them to leave.
These individuals all mentioned having poor self-esteem, social skills, and inexperience with women as being major factors leading them to the community. Rather than having a sudden epiphany leading them to leave all their beliefs behind, these individuals left the community because of a desire to better themselves and pursue self-improvement. Users who had left the incel community tended to express that they experienced a long period of isolation after leaving the community.
The Cult of Incels.is
Taking all of this into consideration, the incel community as a whole appears to be quite cult-like in the way it operates. According to Davis (2018), one important aspect of a cult is recruiting members who are emotionally vulnerable, lonely, and living adverse socioeconomic conditions.
While incel forums do not necessarily recruit their members, the findings of this study suggest they attract individuals who have extremely low self-esteem, with hateful views that are likely to result in isolation in their real lives. Additionally, the fixation that many incels have on money providing access to women’s bodies suggests that many of them do live in adverse socioeconomic conditions, consistent with the statement made by Davis (2018).
Another important part of a cult’s recruitment is love-bombing, where an individual is flooded with affection, flattery, and validation (Davis, 2018). While incel forums do not necessarily provide members with affection and flattery, the findings of this study suggest that the do provide members with validation when they express their feelings of isolation, social and romantic frustration, and hatred towards women.
However, this validation may only come when established members of a forum believe a new member is adequately performing the incel identity. This process of trying to prove yourself to the established forum members is arguably comparable to another common cult practice, where the cult isolates a recruit from existing social connections such as family members (Davis, 2018).
By proving one’s internalization of the incel identity, they are driven further and further away from dominant society.
According to Dittmann (2002), cults also often foster and instill an us-vs-them mentality in their members. This is evident in the references made to the ‘clown world’ by both low-ranked and prolific users alike. This is also arguably a major factor that contributes to the control that incel communities have over their members.
According to Davis (2018), “after convincing you that they’re the best friends you’ve ever had and bombarding you with the cult’s ideology, the cultists’ next job is to make sure they hang on to you.” Once members have proven themselves and found other members who share similar beliefs, the relationships they form with other users are a major factor that keeps individuals coming back to the forum.
The shared feelings of victimization and the ability to vent about this victimization is also a major factor in incel communities keeping their members. These feelings of victimization are caused by insecurities regarding a lack of masculine traits, often validated by incels’ closest connections on the forum, and by preexisting feelings of isolation and social ineptitude, which are arguably both exacerbated by prolonged exposure to the incel community and black-pill ideology.
Much of this information points to members of incels.is also having a very high cost of leaving the community. Since many members make seemingly meaningful social connections on the forum, renouncing black-pill ideology comes at the cost of all these connections.
In some circles, even attempting to find a relationship with a woman could result is ostracization, as the black pill comes with the realization that an individual will supposedly always be undesirable to women and that this is an immutable fact.
Being aware of incel discourse and the ‘clown world’ means being aware that those who leave will inevitably be, directly or indirectly, demonized and mocked by all their former ‘friends.’ Two former incels who posted to r/IncelExit about their experience renouncing black-pill ideology also support the idea that there is a high cost of leaving the incel community.
Both users mentioned how leaving the community, and social media in general, made them very isolated for a prolonged period.
This suggests that the incel community creates, perhaps unintentionally, a social dependence among frequent users of incel forums.
by Nathan Aurnel Doras B00723734
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Sociology
Findings
Prolific users of the incels.is forum and low ranked users were similar in that both groups made an abundance of posts in which users engaged in discursive distancing, fortifying boundaries, hostile sexism, criticism of outgroup members and references to the ‘clown world.’ However, the behaviors of these groups on the forum differed in some interesting ways.
For one, lower ranked users on the forum were much more likely to engage in hostile sexism and discursive distancing, doing so two to three times more often than prolific users.
Low ranked users were also more likely to ask questions about incel beliefs and more likely to explicitly reflect agreement with other users, especially when engaging in hostile sexism or when expressing their frustrations around their perceived lack of sex appeal and female interest. Low ranked users were also more likely to be subject to suspicion by other members and forced to defend themselves.
Users with new accounts were often accused of being members of law enforcement or ‘fakecels’ by other users on the forum. To my understanding, a ‘fakecel’ can refer to an individual who is simply posing as an incel, or one who wrongfully believes they are an incel due to temporary low selfesteem or a ‘dry spell’ in one’s romantic life.
Conversely, prolific users were more likely to question the authenticity of other users, and to make statements policing inceldom. These included references to ‘fakecels’ and ‘truecels.’ To my understanding, a ‘truecel’ is an individual who has fully accepted black-pill ideology as truth. These individuals have given up on any hope of finding a partner or being included in dominant society and have actively decided to stop pursuing sex and relationships with women.
Prolific users were also more likely to criticize or ridicule former members and other incel forums. Additionally, prolific users were more likely to have made recognizable social connections with other users on the forum, and as a result were more likely to engage in casual interactions and banter with other forum members.
The posts on r/IncelExit, a subreddit dedicated to supporting men leave the incel community, came from a variety of sources, men and women included. Some former incels shared stories of why they joined the community and what inspired them to leave.
These individuals all mentioned having poor self-esteem, social skills, and inexperience with women as being major factors leading them to the community. Rather than having a sudden epiphany leading them to leave all their beliefs behind, these individuals left the community because of a desire to better themselves and pursue self-improvement. Users who had left the incel community tended to express that they experienced a long period of isolation after leaving the community.
The Cult of Incels.is
Taking all of this into consideration, the incel community as a whole appears to be quite cult-like in the way it operates. According to Davis (2018), one important aspect of a cult is recruiting members who are emotionally vulnerable, lonely, and living adverse socioeconomic conditions.
While incel forums do not necessarily recruit their members, the findings of this study suggest they attract individuals who have extremely low self-esteem, with hateful views that are likely to result in isolation in their real lives. Additionally, the fixation that many incels have on money providing access to women’s bodies suggests that many of them do live in adverse socioeconomic conditions, consistent with the statement made by Davis (2018).
Another important part of a cult’s recruitment is love-bombing, where an individual is flooded with affection, flattery, and validation (Davis, 2018). While incel forums do not necessarily provide members with affection and flattery, the findings of this study suggest that the do provide members with validation when they express their feelings of isolation, social and romantic frustration, and hatred towards women.
However, this validation may only come when established members of a forum believe a new member is adequately performing the incel identity. This process of trying to prove yourself to the established forum members is arguably comparable to another common cult practice, where the cult isolates a recruit from existing social connections such as family members (Davis, 2018).
By proving one’s internalization of the incel identity, they are driven further and further away from dominant society.
According to Dittmann (2002), cults also often foster and instill an us-vs-them mentality in their members. This is evident in the references made to the ‘clown world’ by both low-ranked and prolific users alike. This is also arguably a major factor that contributes to the control that incel communities have over their members.
According to Davis (2018), “after convincing you that they’re the best friends you’ve ever had and bombarding you with the cult’s ideology, the cultists’ next job is to make sure they hang on to you.” Once members have proven themselves and found other members who share similar beliefs, the relationships they form with other users are a major factor that keeps individuals coming back to the forum.
The shared feelings of victimization and the ability to vent about this victimization is also a major factor in incel communities keeping their members. These feelings of victimization are caused by insecurities regarding a lack of masculine traits, often validated by incels’ closest connections on the forum, and by preexisting feelings of isolation and social ineptitude, which are arguably both exacerbated by prolonged exposure to the incel community and black-pill ideology.
Much of this information points to members of incels.is also having a very high cost of leaving the community. Since many members make seemingly meaningful social connections on the forum, renouncing black-pill ideology comes at the cost of all these connections.
In some circles, even attempting to find a relationship with a woman could result is ostracization, as the black pill comes with the realization that an individual will supposedly always be undesirable to women and that this is an immutable fact.
Being aware of incel discourse and the ‘clown world’ means being aware that those who leave will inevitably be, directly or indirectly, demonized and mocked by all their former ‘friends.’ Two former incels who posted to r/IncelExit about their experience renouncing black-pill ideology also support the idea that there is a high cost of leaving the incel community.
Both users mentioned how leaving the community, and social media in general, made them very isolated for a prolonged period.
This suggests that the incel community creates, perhaps unintentionally, a social dependence among frequent users of incel forums.
