Investigating an Incel community online BEHIND THEIR SCREENS M.C. Escher, litho, January 1935. Caroline Joubert S2073226 Total word count: 23 583 Master Thesis Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Drs Daan Weggemans, for his invaluable help along each stage of the thesis project and all the fruitful leads he gave me to work on. He might have been uncertain initially, whether my interest in this topic had sparked from a personal vendetta against men, but I hope I managed to convince him of a purely academic interest. I would like to thank my dear friend Natalie, who tirelessly re-read my chapters and helped me hand in a thesis written in a correct English. I would like to thank my parents who in addition to paying for my tuition fee, were always present in moments of doubts, my brother who helped me with computer issues, my boyfriend who cooked me food and all my friends who went through tough thesis times with me. More seriously, writing a thesis can feel a little hopeless at times, and I feel so lucky to have been surrounded by all these wonderful people to keep me motivated. Finally, I would like to warmly thank Leiden University for accepting me to their CSM program, because I would not have been able to study such an interesting topic without this Master’s degree. I hope you will find it an interesting read, Caroline 1 Table of Content Chapter I: Introducing Incels .................................................................................................. 6 1.1. Introduction to the research ............................................................................................. 6 1.2. History of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 7 1.3. Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 9 1.4. Research Question and Approach ................................................................................... 10 1.5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 11 2. Chapter II: Incels – What is it all about? ...................................................................... 13 2.2. Related movements ........................................................................................................ 14 2.2.1. History of the manosphere ....................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2. The manosphere ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.3. The manosphere and the Web ................................................................................................. 16 2.3. The origins of Incels ......................................................................................................... 19 2.3.1. The concept of ‘involuntary celibacy’ ........................................................................................ 19 2.3.2. The concept of “Incel” .............................................................................................................. 20 2.4. Who are the Incels today? ............................................................................................... 20 2.4.1. Incels according to ‘normies’ .................................................................................................... 20 2.4.2. A way out? ............................................................................................................................... 23 2.4.3. Incels and the alt-right ............................................................................................................. 23 2.5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 24 3. Chapter III: What does it mean to be part of a digital community?............................. 26 Internet as a social phenomenon ........................................................................................ 26 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 26 3.2. A community? ................................................................................................................. 27 3.3. What changed with the Internet? ................................................................................... 28 3.4. What does the Internet do? ............................................................................................ 29 3.5. Internet’s impact on the radical milieu ........................................................................... 32 3.6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 34 4. Chapter IV: A methodological approach to Incels ........................................................ 36 2 4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 36 4.2. Research Focus ................................................................................................................ 36 4.3. Digital ethnography......................................................................................................... 38 4.4. Content Analysis ............................................................................................................. 40 4.5. Procedure ........................................................................................................................ 42 4.1. Categories ....................................................................................................................... 43 4.2. Delimitations ................................................................................................................... 45 4.3. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 46 5. Chapter V: An immersion on Incels.me ........................................................................ 47 5.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 47 5.2. Background characteristics of Incels ............................................................................... 47 5.3. What do they post about?............................................................................................... 51 5.3.1. Personal sharing....................................................................................................................... 53 5.3.2. Posts fostering interaction with other users ............................................................................. 55 5.3.3. Display of animosity towards women ....................................................................................... 56 5.3.4. Theorizing the Blackpill ............................................................................................................ 57 5.3.5. Sharing their experience as Incels ............................................................................................. 57 5.3.6. Related to the logistics of the forum ......................................................................................... 57 5.3.7. Suicide/depression related ....................................................................................................... 58 5.3.8. Interactions with other groups ................................................................................................. 58 5.3.9. Display of animosity towards other men................................................................................... 58 5.3.10. Lifefuel ................................................................................................................................ 59 5.3.11. Other .................................................................................................................................. 59 5.3.12. Need to leave ...................................................................................................................... 59 5.4. First reflection on the category analysis .......................................................................... 59 5.5. Incels and self-journalism ................................................................................................ 60 5.6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 60 6. Chapter VI – Reflecting on the dimensions .................................................................. 62 6.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 62 6.2. Larger dimensions existing on the forum ........................................................................ 62 6.2.1. Social Dimension ...................................................................................................................... 63 3 6.2.2. Ideological Dimension .............................................................................................................. 64 6.2.3. Counter-narrative Dimension ................................................................................................... 65 6.2.4. Other