INSIDE THE MINDS OF INCELS

In some niche internet communities are men who identify as incels - or the involuntarily celibate - who blame women and society for their relationship woes

- Teo Kai Xiang

Feeling unlucky in love is a common human experience. Yet, for some men, multiple rejections and relationship woes spark a resentment so deep that they blame women and society at large.

These men are known as "incels", short for involuntarily celibate.

While "incel" has evolved into an online insult aimed at those seen as sexually inept or misogynistic, its roots lie in niche internet communities with links to violent extremism.

A 2014 mass shooting in California - by a perpetrator who set out to "punish all females for the crime of depriving me of sex" - killed six people and injured 14, bringing incels to mainstream attention in the United States.

Another attack in Plymouth, England, in 2021 - by a shooter who referenced incel content and the subculture's nihilistic world view - killed six.

Most recently, sexist and abusive attacks on women, such as "your body, my choice" and "get back to the kitchen", spiked across social media after US President Donald Trump's re-election.

Within 24 hours of the conclusion of the 2024 US presidential election - during which manosphere content creators helped drive support from young men towards Mr Trump - the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue found a 4,600 per cent increase in mentions of sexist phrases such as "your body, my choice" on social media platform X.

That phrase subverts "my body, my choice", which was widely used by women as a pro-choice rallying cry for reproductive rights.

One X post stating "Your body, my choice. Forever" by American far-right activist Nick Fuentes who identifies as an incel - garnered more than 90 million views on the platform and was reposted over 35,000 times.

Dr Eviane Leidig, an associate fellow at the Netherlands-based International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, says there is a misconception that incel terrorism lacks a clear political agenda and is different from other forms of extremism.