Abstract

As incidents of violence committed by men who identify themselves as “involuntarily celibate” rise, there is an increasing importance in understanding how this group understands the world and operates in online spaces. Deeply intertwined with rigid expectations of masculinity from patriarchal society, this group on men perform their own masculinity in unique ways. Borrowing from ‘traditional’ or dominant standards of masculinity while simultaneously depicting themselves as marginalized by feminism. Using content analysis, I collected and analyzed over 100 comments from three forums on a popular incel website, concluding that incels create a new form of masculinity, which I call ‘dramaturgical masculinity,’ that utilizes violent language, self-loathing, and misogyny to legitimize and construct their place within society. These tools produce a performance of masculinity that unveils gender as a social construction, rather than something innate. My research examines the detrimental effects of patriarchy on incels in their efforts to create their own space within the rigid gender expectations placed upon them from a young age, while still calling attention to the dangers that are posed by this group of men as a result of their radicalization.

Advisor

Lee, Sina

Second Advisor

Matsuzawa, Setsuko

Department

Sociology and Anthropology; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Disciplines

Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality | Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Sociology

Keywords

misogyny, performance of gender, masculinity, involuntarily celibate

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

Download

Share

COinS
 

© Copyright 2023 Dana Giffen