“Our Incel Problem” Zach Beauchamp

Incel is short for involuntary celibates, a name for those who lack romance and intimacy in their lives. The author notes a lot of interesting things about these members, such as describing them as awkward in real life, specifically with sex and dating. Not only that, they describe it as a “social justice warrior community.” A trend that followed after the death of Sohe Chung was calling for the disrespect of women and to encourage attacks on them, blaming them for their lack of sexual intimacy. What started off as an online forum for advice on how to approach women became a safe place to bash women and call for violent attacks. These patterns and trends inform the insider experience because it shows a progression of how a group went from mild to extreme after an incident opened up the stream of negativity. A trend I noticed while reading this is that it begins with loneliness and possibly being left emotionally fragile by a woman. This tells us that these men might be a bit unstable and insecure because they all claim that attractiveness is the root of all problems with women. In a wider context, this all seems to relate to insecurity which can lead people to look for help over the internet rather than with a therapist. While they might find comfort in a community consisting of people with similar issues, one can not fix another person’s problems or provide help if they have the same unsolved issue. As the author stated at the end, everyone shares rejection, some until  adulthood, but not everyone finds comfort and similar opinions about blaming women for the lack of confidence and sex in ones life which Beauchamp relates to misogynistic rage. While these men might need a range of support, love, and intimacy, it is not a woman’s job to give it to them nor is it a given right for men.

Comment ( 1 )

  1. Angel Pacheco
    I like how you pointed out the issue with insecurity that drives the incel community to act the way they do.

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