They’re not new, what’s new is their ability to organize as a sub-culture. Before the internet an isolated loser was just an isolated loser. They could be harmful to their neighbors, relatives, and adjacent women but they couldn’t create large scale social harm or promote their weird ideology. Now they’re an identity group. That’s what’s new. The weird thing is that because they are an identity group continuing to be an incel is validating to them, which make them much less likely to stop incel behavior. It’s a vicious cycle. It’s much harder to leave an identity behind than it is to abandon a bunch of foolish behaviors that don’t benefit your life. You can stop being an isolated loser by becoming motivated and ceasing isolating. You can’t easily stop being an incel when your entire social identity is based on being an incel.
- HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish1 day
The term is new, but the idea has been around for a while. A lot of mid century assassinations were done by people who would be classified by incels today. It is also reasonable to see the movie Taxi Driver as a story of an incel.
The total numbers seem higher now.
- 2 days
People who never had sex even though they want to is definitely not a new thing, but the term and especially its current usage that isn’t even exclusive to virgins (e.g. people call Andrew Tate an incel, even though he’s more accurately described as a rapist and slaver) is newer.
- dumples@piefed.socialEnglish1 day
Fun fact the term Incel was invented by a woman and had little to do with the current definition.
- 2 days
The guy who shot Reagan was trying to impress an underaged actress like the guy in the movie did by shooting a politician. Of course these people have always existed.
2 daysThey’ve always existed, they just have been given a label in recent times. Can’t say what they were like that long ago since there was no internet and I wasn’t alive until '85. I’m guessing they were just seemingly regular miserable bastards instead of the loud obnoxious ones you see online, since they had no platform to be loud about their bullshit. Or they were straight up rapists.
- Skeezix@lemmy.worldEnglish2 days
GenX here. We had a plethora of other names: nerd (before it was desirable to be labeled that), dweeb, dweeblet, dillweed, dillhole, dork, dorkwad, goober, he-hasnt-had-pussy-since-pussy-had-him, dolt, bozo, numpty, schlub, git
They still get called these things, but none of them are truly descriptive of the specific kind of dweeb, dillhole, goober, bozo, etc an incel is.
I mean, those words also describe most right-wingers.
Goober? Ive usually only seen that one used as a sort of endearing tease between friends accusing the other of being silly, never seen it used to describe either a person’s love life or their politics.
It used to be synonymous with “idiot.” I much prefer the modern usage. I’m a bit of a goober myself. 🤪
- 2 days
Those are all fantastic words, but for a direct translation of incel, I’d go with weirdo.
People who wanted to get laid but weren’t always existed. The terminology is newish. Early incel forums were actually created to try and get them talking for psych research and a goal of reaching the level of social-emotional normalcy needed for successful relationships.
The researchers left after connecting the early community and it then devolved into various unhealthy things we have today. Various gamers and youtubers contributed to the devolvement into the various offshoots that made a pipeline to the alt-right.
Yes, we used to be called “Ugly”, “Loaner” or “Nerd”. There’s nothing new to wanting sex but not getting any. It just seems to be a culture where being able to have sex with someone you’re attracted to is a right rather than a privilege.
theres also things like red and black pill. the manosphere(right wing talking as of late as accelerated the amount of incels being more annoying and loud. plus ICE employing them too.
its the “why cant nice guys date girls” that was the beginning of the incel "movement, then it just devolved into alt-right mysgony.
- pmk@piefed.caEnglish2 days
I always thought “The art of love” by Ovid was an example: https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/ArtofLoveBkI.php#anchor_Toc521049273
- 2 days
Incel (insel?)
The first time I heard the term it was from a medium article where the author claimed to have infiltrated an incel forum. My immediate thought was, how the hell does this person have any clue who the hell is behind the screens in these “incel forums”??
Now I see the term thrown around all over reddit, especially when discussing straight men issues. I also see it showing up in TV shows. Always used to demonize and degrade straight men.
To me, the whole “incel movement” is more likely to something created and perpetrated by “feminists” and or the LGBT movement. Especially after watching a SWAT episode about the very subject. In the episode, they find out that the “incel forum” in question was created and managed by a WOMAN.
Not to mention this guy Thomas R. Insel! This dude is a former NIHM guy and did major studies involving vasopressin and oxytocin, two chemicals released in mammals during sex. He also volunteered to revamp California’s mental health system under Gavin Newsom and worked on a Google X technology that allows someone to detect someone’s emotional state remotely through devices (they’ve since changed the wording on his Wikipedia page).
Again his last name is Insel. It couldn’t be anymore obvious to me. Plus why would a bunch of straight men spend their free time in a forum getting angry about women when the Internet is flooded with an endless amount of straight pornography! It just doesn’t make any sense to me and it’s always a major red flag when it’s a single word or term that is used to derail or deter conversations so easily. Antisemitism is another example of this.
