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Abstract
Ever since the 2014 Isla Vista killings, the incel movement has gained increased attention from the academic community. Involuntary celibacy is commonly understood as a community that is exclusively male. However, there is also a femcel community, which consists of women who identify as involuntary celibates. While incel and femcel communities share a similar starting point and core premise – frustration regarding their inability to access love and sex – research on the femcel community is relatively sparse. This study aims to expand our understanding of the involuntary celibacy movement by exploring both the incel and femcel community and comparing the ways in which they discuss violence. The paper provides insights into the ways that gender can influence support for violence within the broad domain of involuntary celibacy. Using MAXQDA, I conducted a comparative qualitative analysis of posts on two popular online spaces, one incel and one femcel forum. The study found that the rhetoric on the incel forum contains significantly more support for violence than the femcel forum. The study suggests that while incels and femcels share some similarities in the way they approach the opposite sex and navigate the (dating) world, the context in which they discuss and support violence is very different. Incels’ support for violence is largely based in a notion of aggrieved entitlement, while femcels’ support for violence exclusively occurs in response to political discussions and acts of violence against women.