Reading Response # 2
“Our Incel Problem” by Zach Beauchamp is about an online community called Incel. At first, this community brought people together who were awkward when it came to dating or just life in general. It became a space for members to communicate their problems and frustrations when it comes to romance. In its earlier days, the incel community was most focused on advice and advice-giving becoming friendly and welcoming but the author soon notes the big change in the online community a decade later. However, it was soon almost unrecognizable when an incident involving two people. Two college students were injured; one ended up dying while about 26 other people were injured. It was later found that the driver was apart of the modern Incel community. The author explains how the Incel community is now mostly made up of men and is now very sexist. It is apparent the transition from being an open-minded community being welcoming and friendly to becoming closed-minded and full of hatred. The author talks about how he discovered this new form of the online community and describes it as “ amounting to fundamental rejections of women’s sexual emancipation, labeling women shallow, cruel creatures who will choose only the most attractive men if given the choice” while blaming women because they have lack of romance in their life. There is an obvious trend of hostility in this new form of the community and how it is made up of men instead of previously being made up of both men and women. The patterns and trends of this online community inform the insider experience that this community is now very hostile a dangerous towards women. Not only does it show their hatred towards women, but also the insecurities they have and cant deal within a proper way. This connects to the bigger picture in which the behaviors of the incel community can be dangerous in real life and is becoming a problem not only online but in real life.
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