Incels designate a group of men who live in a state of involuntary celibacy due to their,according to them, appearance wise disadvantage in comparison to the ideal man. In recentyears a number of deadly violent attacks have been carried out by incels for the incel cause,whereupon the incel phenomenon has received increasing attention. The aim of this study isto analyze the worldview of incels, and how an online-climate that's characterized byglorification of violence and hatred against women in the worst case can motivate individualincels to commit violent attacks. Netnography is the method of choice in this study and hasbeen used to collect material from the biggest incel forum at the moment; incels.is. Aqualitative content analysis was applied on the material to code it. The results identified astrong community that’s been formed around the incels alternative perception of the world,which encourages violence, misogyny and anti-feminist views and opinions. / Incel, en sammanskrivning av engelskans involuntary och celibate, är en benämning på demän som lever i ofrivilligt celibat till följd av vad de anser ett utseendemässigt underlägejämfört med idealmannen. Under de senaste åren har incels begått ett antal dödligavåldsattacker varpå fenomenet blivit allt mer uppmärksammat. Syftet med studien är attundersöka den världsbild incels besitter, samt hur det våldsglorifierande ochkvinnoföraktande klimat på internetforum i värsta fall kan leda till att enskilda incels begårvåldsattentat. Studien har en netnografisk ansats som riktats mot det inhämtade materialet iform av trådstarter och inlägg från forumet incels.is, vilket identifierats som den störstaincelforumet. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys har i sin tur applicerats på materialet för attsortera detta. Resultatet kom att visa att det råder en alternativ uppfattning av omvärldeninom incelkulturen, kring vilken en stark gemenskap bildats, som i sin tur uppmanar tillvåldsdåd, kvinnohat och antifeministiska åsikter.

Under de senaste åren har flertalet våldsdåd uppmärksammats internationellt, utförda av män som identifierar sig som ofrivilligt celibata - även kallade incels. Motivationen bakom våldsdåden tros komma från känslor som sorg, smärta, frustration och ensamhet. Det är en grupp som ofta förknippas med depression och utanförskap. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka incels uppfattningar och upplevelser av sin psykiska ohälsa, samt hur de hanterar dessa. Metodvalet har en kvalitativ ansats där en tematisk analys har använts för att öka förståelsen för hur incels själva kan uppleva sin verklighet. Från sju intervjuer framtagna ur fyra dokumentärer där män som identifierar sig som incels, har fyra tematiseringar utkristalliserats och analyserats utifrån teorin om känsla av sammanhang, stigmateori och maskulinitetsteori. Resultatet visar på en mångfald av komplexa faktorer som relaterar till självidentifieringen och upplevelsen av att vara incel, såväl som effekterna av att vara incel. Psykisk ohälsa visade sig vara vanligt förkommande inom gruppen av intervjupersoner och relaterades ofta till känslor av ensamhet, social isolering och tankar på suicid. Oförmågan för dessa män att engagera sig sexuellt eller romantiskt hänvisar till uppfattningar och upplevelser av brister i maskulinitet och fysiskt utseende, vilket lett till att de anammat kontroversiella och misogyna världsåskådningar. De misogyna attityderna uttrycks online i olika forum och kan ses som en motreaktion mot upplevelsen av att vara orättvist behandlad och känslan av att vara oönskad och bortvald. Studien drar slutsatsen att incels behöver uppmärksammas som en heterogen grupp i behov av stöd, snarare än en homogen grupp av våldsamma och misogyna män. Vidare forskning uppmuntras att ytterligare belysa de individuella svårigheterna ofrivilligt celibata män kan uppleva, eftersom det fortfarande är ett relativt nytt forskningsområde. Därför är det också av vikt och intresse inom socialt arbete att utvidga förståelsen för incels upplevelser och uppfattningar i relation till deras situation, för att kunna bemöta gruppen på ett sätt som inte driver dem längre in i isolering. / In recent years, several acts of violence committed by men who identify themselves as involuntarily celibate, so-called incels, have been given international attention. The motivation behind the violence is believed to come from emotions such as sadness, pain, frustration, and loneliness. It is a group that is often associated with depression and isolation. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine incels’ perceptions and management of their mental health. The choice of method is of a qualitative approach where a thematic analysis has been used to increase the understanding of the social reality based on how individuals in the environment perceive it. Based on seven interviews from four documentaries in which men who identify themselves as incels, four thematizations have been distinguished and analyzed using the theory of sense of coherence, stigma theory and masculinity theory. The findings portray a complexity of varied factors contributing to the self-identification and experience of being an incel, as well as the effects of perceiving oneself as such. Mental health issues were prevalent within the group of interviewees and were often mentioned in conjunction with feelings of loneliness, social isolation, and thoughts of suicide. The inability for these men to engage sexually or romantically refers to perceptions and experiences of deficiencies in their masculinity and physical attractiveness, which has led them to adopt controversial and misogynistic worldviews. The misogynistic attitudes that are expressed online in various forums can be seen as a counter-reaction to the experience of being treated unfairly and the feeling of being unwanted. The study concludes that incels need to be acknowledged as a heterogenic group in need of support, rather than a homogenic group of violent and misogynistic men. Further research is encouraged to illuminate and broaden the individual struggles of involuntarily celibate men, since it is still a relatively new area of research. Therefore, it is also of importance and interest in the fields of social work to expand the understanding of incels’ experiences and perceptions towards their own situation, in order to respond to the group in a way that prohibits their further isolation.

This study is a multimodal discourse analysis of how involuntary celibates, commonly known as incels, use memes in their discourse to create a group identity. The study focuses on memes used on the internet forum Incels.is. Through an examination of 100 threads on the forum the study has picked out the 7 most frequently used memes for analysis. The study concludes that the memes allude to themes of humor, anger, hate, fixation with appearance, hopelessness and dejection. These themes appeal to feelings that help create a sense of community and in-group-think, which excludes the “other” and creates an echo-chamber where the group's ideas and opinions aren’t challenged and therefore become more extreme.

Involuntary celibates, or “incels”, have receieved increased attention in the public discourse in the recent years. This is partly due to the news media reporting on cases where the incel culture has been linked to acts of mass violence. Here, incels are often framed as misogynic and as a new terrorist threat. In this study we wanted to take a deeper look at this due to the power that media has in influencing how society views incels. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify how incels were framed in the Swedish news media discourse during autumn 2021. This study answers: 1. Which frames of incels existed in Swedish news articles autumn 2021? and 2. How can these frames be analyzed using theory of media discourse? To answer these questions the thesis uses framing theory and news discourse as a theoretical framework. A framing analysis was performed of 15 Swedish newspaper articles from the selected time frame. The results reveal that incels are framed as both dangerous perpetrators and as an outcast group of society. The first frame was more prominent and was often accompanied with varied negative and hostile comments directed toward the group. We argue that these frames reveal a one-sided image of incels and that the comments reproduce traditional norms of masculinity. Moreover, we briefly discuss the development of the journalistic profession in how it hinders the consideration of specific ethical ideals, which could have a negative effect on incels.

The purpose of this study is to explore the collective identity of incels created on the incel forum incels.is from an information science perspective. This is done by studying both the cognitive information behavior of the forum members as well as the socio-cognitive information practice of the forum. Considering the incel community is online based, a netnographic approach is used. A netnographic approach relying on a non-participant observation of 86 posts made on a publicly available incel forum. Personal narratives in the posts are regarded as the cognitive information behavior of the forum members and analyzed to depict the collective identity of incels through social interactions on incels.is from the collective identity theory. By identifying the incel discussion forum as an echo chamber we explore its information practice with the theory of selective exposure. The information practice of the forum accentuates the habitualization and continuity of the values and polarization that shape the collective identity. The empirical findings show that the collective identity is based off of a polarization between in-groups and out-groups which is heavily marked by terminology and selective exclusion. The forum is a social space strictly for heterosexual males that considers their personal state of involuntary celibacy an identity that needs to be enacted socially with likeminded. The empirical findings tell that the incels believe in a societal hierarchy where they are placed at the bottom for not meeting the heteronormative ideal of beauty and therefor lack romantical and intimate experiences. The collective identity of incels on incels.is consists of evaluating common incel traits, comparing the in-group with the out-group and vent their anger towards those responsible for the men’s loneliness.

The term incel refers mostly to white heterosexual men who live in involuntary celibate.Sweden is estimated to have one of the most frequent number of incels per capita in the world which has led the Swedish government to raise the anti-terror preparedness, as incels are considered a security risk. The aim of this study is to, with help of gender and exclusion theories, develop a deeper understanding of what this type of exclusion may result in and how new types of groups are created out of societal exclusion. To answer this, a discourse analysis of two threads on the Swedish forum Flashback was made and the chosen threads were designed so incels themselves could discuss their opinions and experiences. Previous research shows that societal exclusion results in health problems, hatred and distancing from women, which motivates the need for this study. The results showed that incels maintain bad boys as the hegemonic masculinity through legitimizing it themselves and that incels can be seen as a separate type of masculinity. Incel, as masculinity, is based and dependent on men experiencing exclusion from society and the sexual market. In order to be included in the community and be allowed to call oneself an incel, the individual must be recognized by an already legitimate incel. If the individual does not meet the criteria for being an incel, he is quickly rejected and discredited by the incel community. / Begreppet incel syftar till största del på vita heterosexuella män som lever i ofrivilligt celibat. Sverige uppskattas vara ett utav det inceltätaste länderna i världen, och den svenska staten har höjt den nationella anti terrorberedskapen då incels anses vara en säkerhetsrisk. Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av genus- och exkluderingsteorier skapa en djupare förståelse för vad denna typ av utanförskap kan leda till och hur nya grupper skapas ur samhällelig exkludering. För att besvara detta utfördes en diskursanalys över två trådar i det svenska forumet Flashback där de utvalda trådarna var formade efter att incels själva kunde diskutera sina upplevelser och åsikter. Tidigare forskning har påvisat hur detta utanförskap leder till hälsoproblem, hat och distansering från kvinnor vilket motiverar till varför studien har genomförts. Resultatet visade att incels upprätthåller den hegemoniska maskuliniteten genom att själva legitimera den samt att incels kan ses som en egen typ av maskulinitet. Incel som maskulinitet bygger på och är beroende av att männen upplever en exkludering från samhället och den sexuella marknaden. För att få vara med i gemenskapen och få kalla sig som incel måste individen bli erkänd av en redan legitimerad incel, om individen inte når upp till kriterierna för att vara incel blir den snabbt avvisad och misskrediterad av incels som gemenskap.

During recent years a subculture of people who live in “involuntarily celibacy”, so called incels, has received attention in the mainstream media. The definition of an incel has since the 1990s changed from meaning any person who is alone, to being an online-community of hateful, angry and lonely men. The popularity of the term “incel” in the current media debate can be explained by a number of mass murders and violent crimes that have been committed by men who are a part of that community. As of today, no incel-related crimes have occurred in Sweden, however the term is still heavily discussed in the media. The conversation peaked in 2021, when the Swedish psychiatrist and author Stefan Krakowski released a book based on in-depth interviews with Swedish incels. During the same time period, TV4 made a documentary on the subject of incels that contained conversations with three men who fall into the incel spectrum. The purpose of this study is therefore to do a thematic analysis on how incels were portrayed in Swedish news media during 2021, and analyze the result with help of two theories; news values- and framing theory. From this specific time period, 15 articles were selected for analysis. The results showed that there are some themes that dominate the media, for instance the perception of incels as violent or incels as sad and lonely. This study can be scientifically relevant to show a nuanced picture of how incels are portrayed and what frames that can lead to in society. It can bring new perspectives to the discussion about incels and by that further develop the research field of journalism as well as alternative subcultures.

The research conducted in this thesis will focus on incels’ violence, the media coverage of it, and incels’ debatable connection to extremism. Using a comparative case study on incel violence enables an examination of how media presents the coverage, identifying similarities, differences, and patterns from a transnational perspective by analyzing news articles from two selected newspapers in the US and two newspapers from Sweden over a specific period. A systematic content analysis is conducted to identify and analyze key themes in the media coverage related to incel violence. The analysis includes examining how the coverage was presented, what language tone was used, the focus on the coverage, and the characteristics of perpetrators and victims presented by the newspapers. The findings reveal that there are consistent similarities but also differences in the media coverage of incel violence across the four newspapers analyzed. Four out of five identified themes in the coverage were consistent among the newspapers, indicating a shared approach in the portrayal of incel violence. However, there may also be some contextual and cultural differences influencing the coverage, which require further exploration. This study contributes to a better understanding of the media representation of incel violence and highlights the consistent themes observed in the selected newspapers. The findings suggest that there is a shared narrative and coverage of incel violence, transcending national boundaries.

This study aims to understand the relationship between masculinity and the endorsement of attitudes towards guns and violence and aggressive fantasies. I examine threatened masculinity and masculine gender role stress in addition to a newly developed measure, which assesses traits associated with incels, who believe that social liberalism, feminism, and more sexually active men (“Chads”) are to blame for their lack of sex with women. Incels are largely a disorganized group of men interacting online, but a few self-identifying members have been associated with a number of mass violence events in recent years. The data were constructed from an original self-report survey distributed to men aged 18 to 30 years old, the group most responsible for violence against women and mass violence. I hypothesize that men who perceive that men are losing status as a group (status threat) (1), who feel less acceptance as members of that category (acceptance threat) (2), or who exhibit incel traits (3) are more likely to (a) approve of guns, violence, and aggression, and (b) exhibit aggressive fantasies. This study’s findings support three hypotheses: status threat is positively associated with an approval of guns and violence; acceptance threat is positively associated with approval of guns, violence, and aggressive fantasies; and incel traits are positively associated with aggressive fantasies. Men who experience status or acceptance threat or share incel traits exemplify issues of toxicity present in masculinity today. Their support for gun use, violence and aggressive fantasies further show the connection between male insecurity, aggressive attitudes, and fantasizing about violence. / M.S. / This study aims to understand the relationship between masculinity and the endorsement of attitudes towards guns and violence and aggressive fantasies. I examine masculinity and feelings of threat in addition to a newly developed measure, which assesses traits associated with incels (“involuntary celibates”), who believe that social liberalism, feminism, and more sexually active men are to blame for their lack of sex with women. Incels are largely a disorganized group of men interacting online, but a few self-identifying members have been associated with a number of mass violence events in recent years. The data were constructed from a survey distributed to men aged 18 to 30 years old, the group most responsible for violence against women and mass violence. I hypothesize that men who perceive that men are losing status as a group (1), who feel less acceptance as members of that category (2), or who exhibit incel traits (3) are more likely to (a) approve of guns, violence, and aggression, and (b) exhibit aggressive fantasies. This study’s findings support three hypotheses: feelings of group status loss are positively associated with an approval of guns and violence; stress in one’s masculine gender role is positively associated with approval of guns, violence, and aggressive fantasies; and incel traits are positively associated with aggressive fantasies. Their support for gun use, violence and aggressive fantasies further show the connection between male insecurity, aggressive attitudes, and fantasizing about violence.

Hate crime and men’s violence against women are two well-recognised and highly prioritised human rights phenomena in both international and local contexts. Yet, the idea of linking the two phenomena together has received very limited support. As a series of lethal acts of Incel- violence – violence characterised by misogynistic motives and an alt-right ideology of male supremacy – have taken place globally in recent years, a discussion on the region of the human rights spectrum where gendered violence and hate crime legislation overlap is more relevant than ever. Thus, this study’s overarching purpose is to – through a comparative analysis of studies on hate crime and men’s violence against women from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden – investigate the definition of hate crime and its scope in relation to gendered violence with a primary objective of identifying factors that explain why violent crimes against women motivated by misogynistic principles are rarely, if ever, recognised as hate crimes. By drawing on explanatory models of normalisation and theories on power relations, the practice of othering, the male norm and the norm of masculinity, and gendered spheres, the study sets out to evaluate a thesis that suggests that the infrequent inclusion of violent crimes with female victims in the legal and general perception of hate crime can be at least partially explained with reference to the normalisation of male violence against women, and the traditional expectation and assumption that violence against women is rooted in personal, emotional conflicts rather than impersonal hate motives. The analysis initially explores how the gender category is positioned within the legal phenomenon of hate crime by looking at a generalised criteria for hate crime, the normative view on hate crime victims, the reporting and statistics of hate crime, and arguments for and against the inclusion of a gender category in legal statues on bias crimes. The analysis then moves on to analyse three different categories of violence against women – domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape, and Incel-violence – in relation to gendered power dynamics and norms. The study’s results show that even though motives of hate can be linked to different forms of gendered violence, the traditional understanding of what constitutes a hate crime and a hate crime victim along with stereotypical assumptions on what male-on-female violence looks like, makes men’s violence against women appear incompatible with the hate crime phenomenon even in situations when cases of gendered violence actually fit into the generalised hate crime criteria that legal authorities and the public accept as the definition of a hate crime.