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.
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.