Incel exit? How can we harness advice from former Incels to help us tackle extreme misogyny?
Wednesday, 18 January 2023
, 1:00pm
Eden 130
Speaker: Dr. Gavin Hart, Lecturer in Social Science
In recent years research on the involuntarily celibate or ‘Incel’ community has contributed a small but significant stock of knowledge about toxic varieties of extreme misogyny being shared on lightly regulated online communication boards. Simultaneously, we have witnessed the potential for Incel ideas to find expression in disturbing outbursts of extremist violence. If we are to going to find a way to tackle the development and dissemination of these ideas, it is imperative that we learn why certain people leave these communities and how they change their views towards women.
Essentially, we need to explore what deradicalization might look like for a member of the Incel community and how we might begin to engage with and respond to these harmful ideologies. So far, the research in this area has provided a handful of anecdotal accounts of the experiences of former Incels that have left the community and moved on. However, researchers need to focus upon building a much more robust body of work in this area. Finding out what causes people to leave the community, the difficulties that they face in moving on, and their experiences after leaving.
This talk discusses findings from a forum named ‘Incel Exit’ in which former Incels discuss their experiences and support one another through a period of change in their lives. The talk will provide an account of key lessons that can be learned from engaging with this material to better educate young men who feel drawn to these toxic ideas and to challenge narratives emanating from extremist misogynists online.
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