The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women
Open accessAbstract
Emerging alongside the progression of women's rights in the twenty-first century is the development of the men's rights movement, parts of which have culminated into the contemporary 'manosphere.' Consisting of online communities that ascribe to misogynistic ideologies, which objectify, disparage, and dehumanise women, the manosphere also houses those who identify as involuntary celibate (incel).\nDrawing on ethnographic research and interviews, this book provides an original and timely insight into the development of the manosphere, how and why people join and self-identify as incel, the extent to which the influence and philosophy of incel and the incelsphere draws on and is penetrating mainstream culture and political discourse, and its harmful impact.\nThe Incel Rebellion is essential reading for a broad range of practitioners and scholars across criminology, sociology, terrorism studies, gender, media and cultural studies, and politics, as well as expanding the field of cybercrime research and beyond.
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The beliefs and levels of toxicity of incels differ depending on the platform used, which influences the content they post and engage with, the degree of misogyny and hate they espouse, and the types of harm they propagate.
“The beliefs and levels of toxicity of incels differ, depending on the platform used, which influences the content they post and engage with, the degree of misogyny and hate they espouse, and the types of harm they propagate (Baele et al., 2023; Sugiura, 2021).”
From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Sugiura, 2021
Incel violence goes beyond spectacular attacks and the harm they produce does not need to be spectacular or physical to have serious effects on women.
“Other research contends that incel violence goes beyond such attacks and that the harm they produce does not need to be spectacular or physical to have serious effects on women (Kelly et al., 2021; Sugiura, 2021).”
From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Sugiura, 2021
Within the incelosphere, women are perceived as inherently lookist, prioritising men based on their alpha masculine physical characteristics, thus, excluding and discriminating against most men.
“Within the incelosphere, women are perceived as inherently lookist, prioritising men based on their alpha masculine physical characteristics, thus, excluding and discriminating against most men (Sugiura, 2021).”
From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Sugiura, 2021
Incel related ideas and messaging are dispersed online beyond dedicated incel spaces to mainstream sites despite more stringent controls.
“Nevertheless, incel related ideas and messaging are dispersed online beyond dedicated incel spaces to those sites considered more mainstream, despite more stringent controls (Sugiura, 2021).”
From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Sugiura, 2021
The over-lexicalisation of female promiscuity, hypergamy and the 'halo effect' have provenance and are well-documented sexist societal tropes.
“For example, the over-lexicalisation of female promiscuity (Russell, 2018), hypergamy (women seeking partners of higher financial means and/or status) and the 'halo effect' have provenance and are well-documented sexist societal tropes (Ging et al., 2020; Sugiura, 2021).”
From Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok (2023) · cites this paper as Sugiura, 2021
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Sorted by citations
Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok
Solea, A. I., & Sugiura, L. (2023) · European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10610-023-09559-5 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Self-citationThe role of evidence-based misogyny in antifeminist online communities of the ‘manosphere’
Rothermel, A.-K. (2023) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/20539517221145671 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Misogyny and the construction of toxic masculinity in the Spanish Manosphere (Burbuja.info)
Lacalle, C., Gómez-Morales, B., & Vicent-Ibáñez, M. (2023) · El Profesional de la información · doi:10.3145/epi.2023.mar.15 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Exploring incel group dynamics: a computational study of hierarchy and group-boundary policing
Solopova, V., Popa-Wyatt, M., & Berškytė, J. (2025) · Journal of Computational Social Science · doi:10.1007/s42001-024-00357-5 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sugiura, L.
- Corresponding author
- Sugiura, Lisa
- ORCID
- Sugiura, Lisa
- Venue
- Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks
- Publisher
- Emerald Publishing Limited
- Published
- 2021-10-14
- OpenAlex
- W3207410127
- Cited by
- 106
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 10
- FWCI
- 24.49
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks (publishedVersion)
- BiblioBoard Library Catalog (Open Research Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
- Keywords
- manosphere, incels, involuntary celibacy, men's rights movement, misogyny, online communities, objectification of women, cybercrime, dominant culture, political discourse, gender ideology
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