The term "Incel" refers to a largely online subculture of individuals who identify as being involuntarily celibate, meaning they are unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite wanting one. A defining characteristic of the incel community is resentment and hostility towards women, often manifested as misogyny, hate speech, and, in extreme cases, violence. This ideology centers around blaming and objectifying women for their perceived lack of romantic success.
1989: École Polytechnique massacre
In 1989, Marc Lépine perpetrated the École Polytechnique massacre. Some incel communities glorify this event.
1993: Personal Interaction Inspires Page Design
In 1993, a personal interaction occurred that later inspired Alana to design the "Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project" page. This is often incorrectly dated as the founding of the website.
1994: Publication of Michel Houellebecq's 'Whatever'
In 1994, Michel Houellebecq's novel 'Whatever' was published, portraying early examples of incel-like characters before the term existed. The protagonist, an unattractive and socially inept IT professional, embodies themes of sexual frustration and societal alienation. The novel explores the consequences of sexual liberalism, suggesting that market mechanisms have come to determine human relationships, disadvantaging those deemed unattractive.
1997: Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project Founded
In 1997, Alana, a Canadian university student, founded "Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project" as the first website to use the term "incel," providing a platform for discussing sexual inactivity.
1997: Coining of "invcel"
In 1997, the term "invcel" was originally coined by a queer Canadian student.
1999: Spelling shifts to "incel"
Around 1999, the spelling of the term shifted from "invcel" to "incel".
2000: Alana Stops Participating in Project
Around the year 2000, Alana stopped participating in her online project and handed the site over to a stranger.
2003: Love-shy.com Founded
In 2003, the message board love-shy.com was founded as a platform for individuals feeling perpetually rejected or extremely shy to discuss their situations, which differed from IncelSupport in moderation and user demographics.
2007: Virginia Tech shooting
In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho perpetrated the Virginia Tech shooting. Some incel communities glorify this event.
August 4, 2009: George Sodini's Shooting
On August 4, 2009, George Sodini opened fire at an LA Fitness health club in Collier Township, killing three women and injuring nine others before killing himself. Sodini's actions have been embraced and glorified by some incel communities.
2009: Collier Township shooting
In 2009, George Sodini perpetrated the Collier Township shooting. Some incel communities glorify this event.
May 23, 2014: Elliot Rodger's Isla Vista Killings
On May 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others before killing himself in Isla Vista, California. Rodger, who self-identified as an incel, drew media attention to involuntary celibacy, misogyny, and violence glorification within incel communities through his manifesto and YouTube videos. He was a member of PUAHate and became a martyr for some incels after the attack. References to "E.R." and "going E.R." became common in incel forums.
2014: Alana Reacts to Isla Vista Killings
In 2014, Alana reacted to the Isla Vista killings and the glorification of the perpetrator within the incel subculture, expressing regret over the changed usage of the term.
2014: Isla Vista Killings
In 2014, Elliot Rodger, a self-identified incel, perpetrated the Isla Vista killings, an event that is often glorified in some incel communities.
2014: Law & Order: SVU Episode "Holden's Manifesto"
In 2014, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit aired the episode "Holden's Manifesto" (Season 16), which was based on Elliot Rodger and the 2014 Isla Vista killings.
2014: Beierle's YouTube Videos
In 2014, Scott Beierle posted several YouTube videos espousing extreme hatred for women and expressing anger over not having a girlfriend, mentioning Elliot Rodger in one video. Beierle would later commit the Hot Yoga Tallahassee Shooting on November 2, 2018.
2014: Association with Violence Begins
Since 2014, the incel subculture has been associated with extremism and terrorism due to multiple mass killings by self-identified incels, predominantly in North America.
October 1, 2015: Umpqua Community College Shooting
On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper-Mercer killed nine people and injured eight others before killing himself at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. He left a manifesto expressing interest in other mass murders and anger at not having a girlfriend, relating to Elliot Rodger and other mass shooters. He also posted an "involuntarily so" message on an online forum and a threat to a Pacific Northwest college before the shooting.
July 31, 2016: Sheldon Bentley's Homicide
On July 31, 2016, Sheldon Bentley killed an unconscious man in Edmonton, Alberta, by stomping on his abdomen. During his trial, Bentley attributed the killing to frustration from his job as a security guard and being an incel for four years.
October 2017: Reddit Adopts New Policy
In October 2017, Reddit adopted a new policy prohibiting "content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people", which led to the ban of the r/incels subreddit the next month.
November 7, 2017: r/incels Subreddit Banned
On November 7, 2017, Reddit banned the r/incels subreddit for violating its policy against content that encourages violence or physical harm. At the time, the community had around 40,000 members.
December 7, 2017: Aztec High School Shooting
On December 7, 2017, William Atchison killed two people before killing himself in a shooting at Aztec High School in Aztec, New Mexico. Atchison used the pseudonym "Elliot Rodger" online and praised "the supreme gentleman," referencing incel communities. He also posted far-right content online.
2017: Incel Praise for Las Vegas Shooter
Following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, some within the incel community celebrated the shooter Stephen Paddock, viewing him as a hero who targeted "normies."
2017: Reddit bans r/incels community
In 2017, Reddit banned the r/incels community, marking a significant step in moderating incel content on the platform.
2017: Largest Incel Forum Founded
In 2017, the largest incel forum was founded by a previous moderator of the r/incels subreddit.
February 14, 2018: Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting
On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz killed seventeen people and injured seventeen others in a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Cruz, allegedly motivated by extremist views, had previously posted online that "Elliot Rodger will not be forgotten."
April 2018: Robin Hanson's Blog Post
In April 2018, economist Robin Hanson wrote a blog post likening access to sex with access to income, expressing surprise that similar concern hadn't been shown to incels as to low-income individuals. Hanson was criticized for commodifying sex, while others were more positive.
April 23, 2018: Toronto Vehicle-Ramming Attack
On April 23, 2018, Alek Minassian committed a vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Ontario, resulting in 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. He allegedly posted on Facebook about the "Incel Rebellion" and applauded Rodger, leading to claims of radicalization by incel communities.
May 2018: Ross Douthat's "The Redistribution of Sex" Op-Ed
In May 2018, Ross Douthat, a columnist for The New York Times, published a controversial op-ed titled "The Redistribution of Sex", suggesting sex robots and sex workers could fulfill incels' sexual desires. This sparked debate, with some agreeing on the potential of sex robots as a solution, while others criticized the column for objectifying women and legitimizing incel ideology.
August 2018: ISD Researcher's Comparison of Incel Radicalization
In August 2018, Jacob Davey, a researcher at the ISD, compared the radicalization of men in incel forums to teenagers being urged to go to extreme measures on online forums that promote anorexia and other eating disorders, and to online campaigns convincing people to join ISIL. Davey noted that their feelings of entitlement to sex could justify rape.
November 2, 2018: Hot Yoga Tallahassee Shooting
On November 2, 2018, Scott Beierle killed two women and injured five others before killing himself in a shooting at the Hot Yoga Tallahassee studio in Tallahassee, Florida. He was a long-time follower of incel ideologies and had a history of arrests for grabbing women's buttocks. In the months leading up to the shooting, he posted numerous misogynistic, racist, violent, and homophobic songs to SoundCloud.
2018: Incel Excitement Over Toronto Shooter
After the 2018 Toronto shooting, posters on an incel message board expressed excitement at the possibility that the perpetrator might be an incel, even though no motive was identified at the time.
2018: Incel Ideology Described as Terrorism Threat
Beginning in 2018, the incel ideology has been increasingly described by North American governments and researchers as a terrorism threat, leading to law enforcement warnings about the subculture.
2018: Estimates of Incel Community Size
Estimates of the size of incel communities during 2018 varied from the thousands, to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands.
2018: Romano on 'The Black Pill'
In 2018, Aja Romano, writing for Vox, said that "what unites all incels is something known as the black pill".
2018: Alana Reflects on Her Project
In 2018, Alana reflected on her project, stating that it originally was not intended to be a platform for blaming women for personal problems, contrasting it with the current state of the phenomenon.
2018: Toronto van attack
In 2018, Alek Minassian perpetrated the Toronto van attack. Some incel communities glorify this event.
2018: Law & Order: SVU Episode "Revenge"
In 2018, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit aired the episode "Revenge" (Season 20), featuring a group of incels attacking each other's targets, inspired by the 1950s novel Strangers on a Train.
2018: Incel Communities and Male Supremacy
In 2018, The Southern Poverty Law Center included the incel subculture in their list of hate groups, describing it as "part of the online male supremacist ecosystem". Also in 2018, journalists for the New York Times wrote that incel communities have evolved into a movement "made up of people—some celibate, some not—who believe that women should be treated as sexual objects with few rights".
2018: SPLC Describes Incel Subculture
In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described the incel subculture as "part of the online male supremacist ecosystem" and included it in their list of hate groups.
2018: Descriptions of Incels as Predominantly White
In 2018, various sources described incels as predominantly white. Sociologist Ross Haenfler and Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center described them as primarily white, young, frustrated males.
January 2019: Christopher Cleary's Arrest
In January 2019, Christopher Cleary was arrested for posting on Facebook that he was planning to shoot up a public place and kill as many girls as he saw because he had never had a girlfriend and was a virgin. He has been described as an incel in the media.
May 2019: Cleary's Sentencing
In May 2019, Christopher Cleary was sentenced to up to five years in prison for an attempted threat of terrorism after being arrested for threatening to commit a mass shooting in January 2019.
May 2019: Man Sentenced for Terrorist Threats
In May 2019, an American man was sentenced to up to five years in prison for making terrorist threats online, including planning to shoot up a public place and kill as many girls as he saw.
June 2019: Linguistic Analysis of Incel Forum
In June 2019, Jaki and colleagues published linguistic analysis of a large incel forum which contended that there was no definitive evidence that the group is predominantly white.
June 17, 2019: Earle Cabell Federal Building Shooting
On June 17, 2019, Brian Isaack Clyde began what was intended to be a mass shooting at the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse in Dallas, Texas. He was fatally shot by officers before injuring anyone. Clyde had shared incel memes on social media.
September 2019: Reddit bans incel communities
In September 2019, Reddit banned most of its remaining incel communities after banning r/incels in 2017. Despite the ban, some incels continue to identify on the platform.
September 2019: Minassian's Interrogation Video Release
In September 2019, a video interview was released showing Alek Minassian's police interrogation after the April 23, 2018 Toronto attack. Minassian stated he was motivated by resentment of "Chads and Staceys" and hoped to inspire future violence as part of the "Beta Uprising." The judge later found that Minassian lied about his incel motivation to increase notoriety.
September 2019: U.S. Army Warns Soldiers About Joker Violence
In September 2019, the U.S. Army warned soldiers about potential violence at movie theaters showing the Joker film, following disturbing chatter among self-identified incels on the dark web.
September 30, 2019: r/braincels Subreddit Banned
On September 30, 2019, Reddit banned the r/braincels subreddit after broadening its banning policy, leading incel communities to migrate away from shared platforms to their own closed forums.
2019: Study on Incel Supremacist Views
A 2019 study published in Terrorism and Political Violence found that self-identified incels believe themselves to be the only ones who are "capable of pro-social values and intelligent enough ('high IQ') to see the truth about the social world".
2019: Racist Comments Estimated on Incel Forums
In 2019, Jaki et al. estimated that about 3 percent of comments on incel forums contained racist words.
2019: Horgan Receives Grant to Study Incel Subculture
In 2019, John Horgan, a psychology professor, received a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to study the incel subculture, explaining that violent incel activity equates to terrorism due to its broader ideological aspirations.
2019: Vox Describes Site Culture
In 2019, Vox reported that a large incel site has a culture of praising mass killers, which is treated lightly by the site's admins.
2019: Incel Discourse Spreads
In 2019, media scholar Debbie Ging wrote that incels' discourse around "victimhood and aggrieved entitlement" began on 4chan and has spread into more mainstream groups such as men's rights activists (MRAs) and Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW).
2019: ADL on the Red Pill Ideology
In 2019, researchers at the ADL said that some incels follow the red pill ideology, which centers around the idea that feminism has unbalanced society to favor women. These incels believe they can fight back against this system.
2019: ADL on 'Red Pill' and 'Black Pill'
In 2019, researchers at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) wrote that there are some incels who believe in the red pill and others who believe in the black pill.
2019: Incel Subculture as Part of Radical-Right Movements
In 2019, the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right noted that the incel subculture is "part of a growing trend of radical-right movements".
2019: Incels Attempt to Redefine Views
Since around 2019, some self-identified incels have attempted to redefine their views to appear more mainstream, rejecting expressions of misogyny.
January 2020: Texas DPS Warns of Incel Terrorism Threat
In January 2020, a report by the Texas Department of Public Safety warned that the incel movement was an "emerging domestic terrorism threat" potentially matching or eclipsing other domestic terrorism.
February 10, 2020: Abduction of Faye Marie Swetlik
On February 10, 2020, Coty Scott Taylor abducted 6-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik in Cayce, South Carolina. Taylor's motive was thought to be rage against the world due to his involuntary celibacy; friends reported that Taylor was a self-described "incel" and that he had often said he "lived without hope".
February 2020: Lack of Research on Female Incels
In February 2020, Kohn wrote that she could find "mountains" of academic papers on male incels, but none on female incels, adding that the assumption that female incels do not exist adds to their pain.
February 2020: Incel-Motivated Attack Prosecuted as Terrorism
In February 2020, an attack in Toronto allegedly motivated by incel ideologies was the first such act of violence prosecuted as terrorism. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police considers the incel subculture to be an "Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist (IMVE)" movement.
February 2020: Popularity of r/TruFemcels
As of February 2020, the most popular female incel forum was the r/TruFemcels subreddit, with over 22,000 members.
February 24, 2020: Toronto Erotic Massage Parlor Stabbing
On February 24, 2020, a female spa worker was stabbed to death in an attack that also severely injured her female coworker at an erotic massage parlor in Toronto. Police later declared this as the first violence motivated by incel ideologies being prosecuted as an act of terrorism in Canada.
March 2020: Survey on Racial Identity in Incel Forum
Hoffman and colleagues reported that a March 2020 survey of an incel forum determined that most respondents self-identified as Caucasian.
May 20, 2020: Westgate Entertainment District Shooting
On May 20, 2020, Armando Hernandez Jr. opened fire at Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale, Arizona, injuring three people. Hernandez identified himself as an incel and claimed he wanted to target couples, expressing anger at society and women.
June 2020: Cole Carini's Arrest
In June 2020, Cole Carini was charged with making false statements to law enforcement after claiming injuries were from a lawnmower accident. Police alleged Carini was injured while making a bomb and had written a note threatening violence against women, referencing Elliot Rodger.
July 2020: Arrests of Self-Identified Incels
Between January and the end of July 2020, five self-identified incels were arrested in separate incidents in North America for killing or planning to kill women.
2020: Estimates of Incel Community Size
Estimates of the size of incel communities during 2020 varied from the thousands, to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands.
2020: Integration of Incel Community into Alt-Right
In 2020, Hoffman and colleagues stated that "a particularly worrisome trend is how seamlessly the militant incel community has been integrated into the alt-right tapestry".
2020: Hoffman on 'Taking the Black Pill'
In 2020, Hoffman et al. stated that "Taking the black pill" is critical to the incel identity, recognizing inceldom as a permanent condition.
2020: Publication of "Fair Warning" by Michael Connelly
In 2020, Michael Connelly's thriller novel "Fair Warning" was published. The novel features a company selling genetic data of women vulnerable to sex addiction to incels, one of whom is a serial killer.
2020: Lavin Describes Site Culture
In 2020, Talia Lavin, in her book Culture Warlords, described the culture of a large incel site as one of "one-upmanship", "barroom boast-off" and shock content.
2020: Views on Female Incels
In 2020, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the majority of self-identified incels do not believe women can be incels.
2020: Characteristics of Female Incels
In 2020, journalist Isabelle Kohn noted that female incels tend to turn their rage inwards rather than outwards, and empathize with the men who reject them.
2020: BBC Describes Rodger as "Founding Father"
In 2020, the BBC described Elliot Rodger as "the founding father of the incel ideology".
2020: Research on Incel Forums by Swedish Defence Research Agency
In 2020, the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) found that the three largest incel forums had a total of about 20,000 users, with approximately 1,000 active posters.
January 2021: Ban of r/TruFemcels Subreddit
In January 2021, the r/TruFemcels subreddit was banned for violating Reddit's rules against promoting hate.
March 2021: Overlap with Feuerkrieg Division
In March 2021, Der Spiegel reported on the overlap between the incel community and the Feuerkrieg Division, a neo-Nazi terrorist network.
April 2021: Malik Sanchez's Arrest
In April 2021, Malik Sanchez, a 19-year-old self-described incel who praised Elliot Rodger, was arrested on federal charges for allegedly threatening to detonate a bomb near women in Manhattan, New York. He had a history of harassment and assault.
July 2021: Ohio Incel Charged with Hate Crime
In July 2021, a 21-year-old self-identified incel from Ohio was charged with attempting a hate crime and illegally possessing a machine gun. He frequently posted on an incel website venerating Elliot Rodger and expressed a desire to "slaughter" women in a manifesto.
August 12, 2021: Plymouth Mass Shooting
On August 12, 2021, Jake Davison, a 22-year-old man who referenced "inceldom" in online videos, perpetrated a mass shooting in Plymouth, England. He killed five people and injured two others before killing himself.
December 2021: NYT Reports on Sanctioned Suicide Website
In December 2021, the New York Times reported that it had identified 45 people, individually, who died in connection to a website called Sanctioned Suicide, and estimated that the true number was likely much higher. The operators were the same as the incel forums.
December 27, 2021: Denver and Lakewood Shootings
On December 27, 2021, Lyndon McLeod (pen name Roman McClay), who harboured views common with incels, committed the 2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings, murdering five people before being killed by a police officer.
2021: Study on Incels and Violence
A 2021 study found that most self-identified incels do not believe that incel groups promote violence.
2021: Analysis of Incels Focused in US and Canada
In 2021, Jacob Ware noted that analysis of incels has been focused within the United States and Canada due to the concentration of incel-motivated attacks in those countries.
2021: M. Kelly Analyzes Redefinition Attempts
In 2021, M. Kelly wrote for Political Research Associates, highlighting that the attempts to redefine incel views contradicted the communities' self-identifications and moderation strategies.
2021: Acceptance of Female Incels in Communities
In 2021, M. Kelly wrote that members of incel communities point to the existence of female incels as an argument against criticisms of them as misogynist, but that most incel communities do not accept them and ban them from using their forums.
2021: Incel communities rebrand attempts
In 2021, a report by Political Research Associates noted attempts by incels to "rebrand" their communities, aided by researchers and journalists giving them larger platforms. This reframing minimized their threat and amplified their grievances, centering on their self-perceived victimhood.
2021: Statistical Analysis of Incel Forum
In 2021, a statistical analysis of the largest incel forum showed that only a few hundred accounts made up the vast majority of forum posts.
March 2022: Incel Forum Rule Change on Sexualization of Minors
In March 2022, an incel forum changed its rules to allow for the sexualization of pubescent minors, only outlawing the sexualization of "pre-pubescent" minors.
March 2022: US Secret Service Publishes Case Study
In March 2022, the United States Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center published a case study titled "Hot Yoga Tallahassee: A Case Study of Misogynistic Extremism", to highlight the specific threat of misogynistic extremism.
September 14, 2022: Guilty Plea in Toronto Spa Stabbing
On September 14, 2022, the perpetrator of the February 24, 2020 Toronto spa stabbing entered a guilty plea to murder and attempted murder. The attack was ruled a terrorist attack during sentencing proceedings, motivated by incel ideology.
September 2022: Report on Incel Forum Activity
A September 2022 report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found frequent mentions of rape and killing on a large incel forum, with 89% of forum users expressing support for rape in general.
September 2022: CCDH Report on Incel Forum
In September 2022, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published a report about the largest dedicated incel forum and a network of other sites run by Diego Joaquín Galante and Lamarcus Small.
October 2022: Largest Incel Forum Size
As of October 2022, the largest incel forum had almost 15,000 members and moderators banned women and LGBT individuals, justifying it for straight men.
2022: Study on Mental Health of Self-Identified Incels
A 2022 study found that self-identified incels had higher rates of depression and anxiety, with 95% reporting depression and 93% reporting anxiety. 38% had clinical diagnoses.
2022: Study on Incels Rejecting Violence
A 2022 study found that the majority (79%) of self-identified incels surveyed rejected violence.
2022: Female Incel Hashtags on TikTok
As of 2022, hashtags pertaining to the idea of female incels such as #femcel, #femcelcore and #femcelrights, have over 250 million views on TikTok.
2022: Statistical Analysis of Incel Forum
In 2022, a statistical analysis of the largest incel forum showed that only a few hundred accounts made up the vast majority of forum posts.
2022: Criticism of Body Positivity and Feminism by Female Incel Communities
In 2022, some female incel communities criticized body positivity and mainstream feminism as unhelpful. An expert in psychology characterized these communities as overly insular and skeptical of outsiders.
May 6, 2023: Allen, Texas Mall Shooting
On May 6, 2023, Mauricio Martinez Garcia, a 33-year-old self-identified incel, went on a spree shooting in a mall in Allen, Texas. Garcia killed eight people and injured at least seven others before he was killed by a police officer.
2023: Rolling Stone Describes Site Culture
In 2023, Rolling Stone described a vindictive culture on a major incel site, giving an example of an ex-moderator rejected as a "fake incel" after entering a relationship.
2023: Release of the film "The Beast"
In 2023, the science fiction film "The Beast" was released, featuring a character based on Elliot Rodger.
2023: Study on Incels' Political Identity
In a 2023 study, researchers from the University of Texas found that 63.58% of self-reported incels identified as white, and that 45% leaned to the left on the political spectrum.
2024: Survey of Incels' Political Leanings
A 2024 survey of self-identified incels by researchers from the University of Texas found that incels tended to be slightly center-left, particularly in questions about homosexuality, corporate profits, and welfare benefits.
2024: Continued Neglect of Research on Female Incels
In 2024, continued neglect of research on female incels was reported.
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