From Misogyny to Murder

Mass murders in Santa Barbara, Toronto, and Parkland were connected to a common source: the “involuntary celibate” (incel) movement. I’ve taken a deep dive into the roots of violence among this unprecedented online community.

 

I delved into several incel forums myself and examined their rhetoric and tendencies. Although they were originally created with good intentions, incel forums have nowadays become huge echo chambers, as their almost exclusively male population veers towards despair, fantasies of sexist violence, and racism. However, I believe this radicalization occurs not with large outbursts of violent posts but as a result of a natural human tendency: defining group behavior monolithically based on how their members behave on average. Read more about my conclusions below: