EXTREMISMIncels: The Ideology, the Threat, and a Way Forward
Misogynist ideology, beyond individual criminal behavior, has fueled violence against women worldwide. A new report explores the phenomenon of ‘incels’ (a portmanteau of ‘involuntary’ and ‘celibate’) and the misogynistic ideology that underpins this global community of men that has become a thriving internet subculture.
Misogynist ideology, beyond individual criminal behavior, has fueled violence against women worldwide. Predominantly English-language, open-source data suggests that these attacks may have led to or been associated with 58 deaths—63 deaths if attacker suicides are included. A further 82 people have been injured.
A new ASPI report, Incels in Australia: The Ideology, the Threat, and a Way Forward, released Friday, explores the phenomenon of ‘incels’ (a portmanteau of ‘involuntary’ and ‘celibate’) and the misogynistic ideology that underpins this global community of men that has become a thriving internet subculture. It examines how online spaces, from popular social media sites to dedicated incel forums, provide a platform for expanding misogynistic views and gender-based violent extremism.
In Australia, despite the existence of hate speech towards women, authorities have not identified any overt acts of violence driven by a specific misogynistic ideology as opposed to domestic violence that had misogyny at its core. There is evidence, however, that misogynist hate speech, often driven by a view that equality for women and diverse groups means inequality and disadvantage for men, is intensifying in Australia.
In February 2021, the director-general of the Australia Security Intelligence Organization noted:
We are seeing a growing number of individuals and groups that don’t fit on the left–right spectrum at all; instead, they’re motivated by a fear of societal collapse or a specific social or economic grievance or conspiracy. For example, the violent misogynists who adhere to the involuntary celibate or ‘incel’ ideology fit into this category.
The director-general concluded that new language was needed for these issue-motivated groups and that ASIO would adopt the term ‘ideologically motivated violent extremism’, including for incel groups, and others motivated by nationalist, racist or anti-authority ideology.
‘Incel’ describes a person struggling to establish romantic and/or sexual relationships. Beyond a label of personal identity, the term also refers to a particular ideology and an online subculture, movement or community. Incels are a subgroup of a wider collection of online and offline communities that share overlapping misogynistic and male supremacist ideologies—otherwise referred to as the ‘manosphere’.
