Share

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

The recently released Netflix miniseries "Adolescence" addresses a problem that most adults are unaware of, but is very much alive among young people and on the internet.

The term incel originated in the 1990s as an innocent acronym: "Involuntarily Celibate ." It was coined by a Canadian woman, Alana, to create a supportive space for people of all identities and genders who were unable to establish or find sexual partners. Today, unfortunately, the term incel has a much more violent undertone and evokes a misogynistic and hateful culture that thrives online and generates widespread violence.

Incels aren't just misfits: they're an organized digital community, with its own coded, contemptuous language. They talk about "taking the pill"—red, blue, black, pink, etc.—a reference to The Matrix (the movie), but these represent toxic ideologies.

Their slang includes:

• The redpill is the one who “enlightens” them with sexist theories: feminism ruined their right to dominate.
• The blackpill plunges them into fatalism : they will never be desired.

In addition, they invented terms like:

• Chads : successful men,
• Stacys attractive women
• Femoids : women reduced to objects, among others.

There are other terms that serve to monitor masculinity such as:

• Cuck : Cuckold
• White knight: Men who defend women (traitors, to them)

Languages ​​and hierarchies

According to the research "Chads, Normies, and Incels ," this slang not only imposes a rigid sexual hierarchy (Chads vs. incels), but also blames women for their exclusion. The language, far from being neutral, operates as a mechanism to rationalize resentment and justify symbolic violence.

Although the profile is not homogeneous, most are young, cis, heterosexual, white men who fail to meet the mandates of hegemonic masculinity: sexual success, physical attractiveness, and social dominance . They meet primarily in virtual space to share their frustrations and theories about their inability to establish romantic and sexual relationships. Many incels identify as far-right, and there is a strong inclination toward hateful ideologies within their communities . They mostly group together in forums like incels.is , where they share a sense of victimization, accusing women and feminism of their isolation.

The manosphere and its connection to the far right

It's no coincidence that incels, or their stories, are reappearing in this global political context. There's a term in the virtual space called the manosphere , which is a digital ecosystem that includes incels, MRAs, PUS, masculinists, and supremacists, among others. It's described as a "refuge" for men who are "victims" of a society that "excludes" them, and who embrace misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist behavior. But behind the self-pitying rhetoric lies a political ideology. The manosphere doesn't operate in a vacuum; it's a cultural arm of a global far right that has found highly effective allies in public figures. From Donald Trump, who ridiculed #MeToo , to Javier Milei, who tried to eliminate the criminalization of femicide in Argentina, insisting that "murder is murder," thus erasing the gender-based hatred component. Both narratives fit perfectly into the incel narrative: the fault lies not with the system, but with women who “exaggerate” or “lie.” Since Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) , the network has become a dumping ground for incel discourse. Musk not only reinstated accounts of redpill figures like Andrew Tate, accused of human trafficking, but X’s algorithms prioritize misogynistic and conspiratorial content. Under its “freedom of expression” motto, the platform allows hashtags like #KillAllWomen, while censoring feminist activists.

Although their existence is almost exclusively virtual, they have had bloody impacts in “real life.” According to research like that cited in “Chads, Normies, and Incels , incels have been linked to at least 50 murders in the last decade, from the 2014 Isla Vista massacre by Elliot Rodger—an incel icon—to attacks in Canada, the U.S., and Europe in 2024.

Seventy percent of incels are under 30, live in English-speaking countries (US, Canada, UK), and congregate on forums like Incels.is. There, they share conspiracy theories and disseminate hate speech. Not all of them are violent, but their collective narrative normalizes misogyny: they blame women for "privileging" Chads (successful men) and demand forced "sexual redistribution."

Adolescence

The Netflix miniseries "Adolescence" portrays the story of Jamie, a 13-year-old boy who stabs a classmate after being humiliated online. Although he doesn't identify as an incel, he consumes its propaganda: he hates Katie for rejecting him and sees himself as a victim of a system that marginalizes him. In a key dialogue with his therapist, he justifies the crime: "She did this to me ," reflecting the blackpill logic ( "nothing will change my destiny" ). Jamie embodies the incel traits: misogyny, isolation, and consumption of toxic content. But the series shows that you don't have to subscribe to the movement to be part of its hate machine.

The series doesn’t redeem Jamie, but it does expose the threads that manipulated him: a mother and father who believed their son was safe locked in his room, bullying at school, and an internet that taught him that masculinity is measured in sexual conquests. Following Elon Musk’s algorithm, platforms like X (formerly Twitter) are a breeding ground for young men like Jamie to move from searching for “hook-up tips” to theories like the “80/20 rule” (which claims that the 20 percent of “superior” men monopolize women). “ Adolescence ” not only portrays an individual tragedy, but shows how digital and social dynamics fuel spirals of hatred.

The book "Leia, Rihanna, and Trump" by the UNA Project points out that, in incel philosophy, personal relationships are reduced to objects of consumption, reflecting the isolation and atomization of neoliberal society. Marginalized and stigmatized, incels embrace their role as misunderstood, frustrated by the failure to meet their social desires or expectations, and find catharsis in violence and the cult of death.

If the most powerful political leaders continue to romanticize the all-powerful macho, it will be difficult for adolescents and young people not to victimize themselves or realize that there is something they can do to change their perception of how society views them.

Incels didn't emerge out of nowhere. They're a symptom of a society that continues to measure male worth by their ability to "conquer" anything, but especially women.