The whole narrative surrounding incels is extremely misleading. The average socially retreating male is far more likely to kill himself than anyone else.
Commentary
Close your eyes and picture an incel. What do you see? A white male, weapon in hand, scanning the streets looking for an innocent woman to attack. The idea of violent “involuntary celibates” is enough to make any sane individual sweat buckets. Incels, we’re told, are
a terrorist threat. Are they, though?
Over the last decade, around the world, incels have claimed the lives of just a few dozen people. In the words
of William Costello, an evolutionary psychologist who studies the incel movement for a living, this could be considered a “bad day in Afghanistan.” Mr. Costello wasn’t denigrating those who lost their lives; far from it. Instead, he was offering some perspective.
One man, a Canadian by the name of Alek Minassian,
is responsible for 11 of the few dozen deaths. Moreover, although Mr. Minassian identified as an incel, it’s important to note that he plowed his van into a group of random pedestrians. This act of madness killed males as well as females, a fact that has been, either intentionally or otherwise, omitted from the conversation.
Incels are, almost by definition, violent misogynists. And, in theory, we should expect to see more instances of real-world violence. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of incels all around the world, and many in the United States.
The whole narrative surrounding incels is extremely misleading. As I
have shown elsewhere, many incels aren’t white males, and many of them don’t even lean right. Yes, left-leaning, non-white incels exist. Moreover, the idea that all incels are out on the streets, ready to physically assault any woman that walks past, is entirely detached from reality.
In short, the incel phenomenon has been oversimplified. A recent study published in the journal
Psychology of Men & Masculinities emphasizes this very fact. According to the authors, incels aren’t a monolithic unit. Instead, they can be divided into three distinct groups:
- “Externalizers”—individuals who blame society (mostly women) for their problems.
- “Hopers”—those seeking to improve their lives.
- “Internalizers”—Those who blame themselves, not others, for the pits of despair they find themselves in. This self-directed blame causes severe emotional discomfort, including an increased risk of suicidal ideation.
As the authors conclude: “This study finds that self-described ‘incels’ should not be broadly labeled as violent extremists and can be classified according to whether or not they believe their situation is permanent, the extent of their suicidal ideation, and the extent of their violent ideation.”
Another recent
paper out of the University of Texas, authored by the aforementioned Mr. Costello and David M. Buss, arguably the greatest evolutionary psychologist of the 21st century, argues that modern-day incels aren’t as violent as we might expect because they are, on the whole, heavily sedated.
The Male Sedation Hypothesis suggests that online virtual worlds, such as pornography and gaming, offset the potential for violence among romantically challenged young men. In short, according to the authors, various virtual worlds provide a simulated sense of gratification. So consumed are these men by gaming and pornography that they have very little interest in enacting any form of physical violence. In truth, many are overweight, lazy, and too unmotivated even to leave the house.
Incels are a threat, just not in the way that many imagine. The biggest threat in the United States and other parts of the Western world, I suggest, isn’t violent men on the streets. It’s disillusioned, lonely men rotting away in self-imposed dungeons. In Japan, social isolation among young men is so severe that the Japanese have a very specific term for it: hikikomori. Hiki means, quite literally, “to withdraw”; komori, meanwhile, means “to remain inside.” Are we witnessing the rise of the Western hikikomori? The answer appears to be yes.
An increasing number of British men, both young and old, are retreating from society. Incels, according to mainstream media narratives, are devoted to killing others, particularly women who refuse their advances. But the average retreating male is far more likely to kill himself than anyone else. In fact, in the UK, suicide is
the biggest killer of men under 45. For the first time in history, young men in England, Scotland, and Wales are
more likely to be lonely than older individuals. Something very similar is
playing out in the United States.
Arie Kruglanski, a social psychologist at the University of Maryland and one of the authors of the abovementioned study in the Psychology of Men & Masculinities, told me that his research “supports the notion that whereas the human need for significance and mattering (elevated in the case of incels) is universal the ways of addressing that need differ according to narratives to which individuals subscribe.”
In other words, he continued, “the narratives that tell one how to be significant and to matter serve as means to satisfying one’s quest for significance.” Put another way, not all incels subscribe to the “wage war on women” narrative.
What separates incels from non-incels, it seems, is their heightened sense of insignificance.
All humans seek meaning, love, and support. Incels are no different. When these three elements are lacking, it’s natural to retreat from society, to pull the curtains, and tear up the social contract. This brings us back to the Male Sedation Hypothesis. More men are finding comfort in porn, gaming, and other solitary, isolating endeavors. Instead of socializing in the real world, they’re retreating further and further into virtual ones.
It’s easy to scoff at these individuals, but we really shouldn’t. Many of these males are our brothers, neighbors, and work colleagues, and every single one of them is crying out for help.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
