Swallowing the Black Pill: The growth and potential danger of the incel movement
August 26, 2021 — HANNAH RICHTER & JORDY NIJENHUIS
Incels. A term that we are hearing more and more frequently. One that is often linked to violence and mass murders, and to men’s extreme hatred for women. But what exactly are incels? The term is an abbriviation for ‘involuntary celibate’. People who identify as an incel are part of an online subculture, in which they define themselves as unable to find a romantic partner, despite their desire for one. They tend to be self-hating and believe they are subhuman, however they also feel an entitlement to sex that women are withholding from them.
Despite the group being made up of men, the term incel was first invented by a woman named Alana. ‘Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project’ was a website first created in 1993 by a female Canadian student, who wanted to discuss her sexual inactivity with others. Any gender was welcome. Alana gave the website to a stranger around 2000, and left the movement herself. She has since said that "like a scientist who invented something that ended up being a weapon of war, I can't uninvent this word, nor restrict it to the nicer people who need it.”
“Like a scientist who invented something that ended up being a weapon of war, I can’t uninvent this word, nor restrict it to the nicer people who need it. ”
Today, the incel community has not only grown in size, but also in complexity. Their growth online is not happening on mainstream media sites that can be reasonably regulated. Instead, it is on sites such as 4chan and 8kun (previously 8chan), smaller forums with far less moderation. This makes it difficult to understand the size of the community, and the potential threat that comes from it.
To make it even more complicated, Incels have evolved to create their own ideology, using a unique language, including very specific words to describe themselves and how they perceive the world around them. The term ‘Chad’ for example stands for good looking, fit men, who sleep with a lot of women, and ‘Stacy’ for attractive women who only are interested in Chads and not incels. With terminology taken from the Matrix film trilogy, incels group individuals by different pills: blue pill, red pill, and black pill. The concept of these pills is prevalent across the so-called manosphere, not only within the incel movement. Those who are part of the mainstream and do not subscribe to incel ideology are bluepilled. Once you begin to understand, or ‘wake up to the real world’, and start following incel ideology you will become redpilled. Both blue and red pills are also seen in other parts of the manosphere and within the far-right movement. Once you take the black pill, you have accepted you are part of an unequal society and there is nothing you can do about it. Incels who are blackpilled describe themselves as ‘doomed’ and oppressed by the female-dominating world.
“They tend to be self-hating and believe they are subhuman.”
This ‘blackpilled’ nihilistic worldview can lead to violence. Some incels feel so doomed that they decide to take revenge on society. In their acts of revenge they often aim for killing as many Chads and Stacys before ending their own lives. Some online incel communities even spur others on to beat the ‘highscore’ of most kills in these violent attacks.
One of the more well known attacks happened in Santa Barbara, in 2014, when a shooter propelled into the world news, largely due to a YouTube video confession, and a 107,000 word manifesto blaming women. Some incels now refer to the Santa Barbara shooter as a saint and aim to follow in his footsteps. However, the 2014 shooting was not the first attack rooted in the incel ideology, nor was it the last. Since 2000 there have been at least 12 mass murders, with over 60 deaths. The most recent mass murder occurred in Plymouth, only two weeks ago, and was the first incel related murder attack to be carried out in the U.K. Despite Canada labeling incels as terrorists, Jonathan Hall QC, the UK's terrorism laws watchdog, does not believe that the U.K. will be following suit after the most recent shooting.
“Radicalisation is always looming.”
Of course, not all incels are violent or have these violent thoughts. Some of them flock to these communities to talk about their grievances and look for support. But radicalisation is always looming, and the hateful language that they use online, predominantly towards women, can be dangerous. As we have seen with the growing number of violent attacks over the years, online hate causes offline harm. Although one individual incel may only be taking part in hate speech online, this can push others to cause harm offline.
If you would like to find out more about incels and their terminology, we recommend RAN in Focus - Incels podcast and Moonshot’s Incels: A Guide to Symbols and Terminology.
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