WomenNOW Podcast - Dr Proudman on the dark and misogynistic world of incels

In this episode Dr Proudman is joined by Dr Lisa Sugiura FHEA, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Cybercrime and author of The Incel Rebellion: The rise of the manosphere and the virtual war against women and Dr Alessia Tranchese, Senior Lecturer in Communication and Applied Linguistics, who are co-authors of ‘I don’t hate all women, just those stuck-up bitches: How Incels and mainstream pornography speak the same extreme language of misogyny’. 

On Thursday 12th August 2021 Britain witnessed its worst mass shooting in nearly a decade by a self-identified incel, Jake Davison who was frequently and freely allowed to post YouTube videos, actively discussing his life failures and stating that the root cause was women. The phrase “incel” seems to have come as a shock, causing the media to frantically review right-wing, misogynistic ideology. However, it is not a new term let alone a new group. 

Violent incels have been on the rise in recent years. Incel violence, which explicitly aims to overthrow the social order should be defined as terrorism. The fact that perpetrators themselves clearly state that their attacks also target men, who are deemed as attractive men, is largely neglected (“chads”). In addition, the overlap with pornography and the rise of violent hatred towards women is often ignored.

On the show, Dr Proudman, alongside her guests will discuss what incels are, how they are radicalised through misogyny and the impact this has on women's safety.