ABSTRACT

This paper explores the discursive constructions of femininity and masculinity expressed by incels. Situated within a new wave of misogyny, incels blame feminism for disrupting a natural order whereby women and broader societal structures are organised around heterosexual, monogamous couplings. Using femmephobia as a lens, I consider how incels employ heteropatriarchal conceptions of emphasised femininity to both devalue women and describe pervasive social conditions that force them to remain celibate. Femmephobia casts feminine expressions as inherently performative and directed towards a masculine subject. Through an online ethnography of incel-identified subreddits and a deep-reading of Elliot Rodger’s manifesto, this paper situates incel discourse within contemporary work on critical femininity. It finds that incels use gendered actors to illustrate and explain their status as incels. Further, these actors all operate within heteropatriarchal understandings of gender, and operationalise femininity or hegemonic masculinity for social capital. Through the use of these actors, incels demonstrate how they view sexual access and relationships as a unique form of capital that they are denied. Taking gender as its starting point, this paper contributes to the emerging field of critical femininity through an understanding of the misogyny and femmephobia expressed by incels through the use of gendered actors.

摘要

本文探讨了 incels 所表达的女性气质和男性气质的话语结构。在新一轮的厌女症浪潮中，女权主义者指责女权主义破坏了一种自然秩序，在这种秩序中，女性和更广泛的社会结构是围绕异性恋、一夫一妻制的结合组织起来的。以女性恐惧症为视角，我考虑了 incels 如何利用强调女性气质的异父权观念来贬低女性并描述普遍的社会条件，迫使她们保持独身。女性恐惧症将女性表达方式视为天生具有表演性并针对男性主题。通过对 incel 识别的 subreddits 的在线民族志和对 Elliot Rodger 宣言的深入阅读，本文将 incel 话语置于当代批判女性气质的作品中。它发现 incels 使用性别演员来说明和解释他们作为 incels 的地位。此外，这些行为者都在对性别的异父权理解中运作，并为社会资本运用女性气质或霸权男性气质。通过使用这些演员，incels 展示了他们如何将性接触和性关系视为一种独特的资本形式，而他们被拒绝。本文以性别为出发点，通过使用性别演员来理解 incels 所表达的厌女症和女性恐惧症，从而为批判女性气质的新兴领域做出贡献。incels 展示了他们如何将性接触和性关系视为一种独特的资本形式，他们被拒绝。本文以性别为出发点，通过使用性别演员来理解 incels 所表达的厌女症和女性恐惧症，从而为批判女性气质的新兴领域做出贡献。incels 展示了他们如何将性接触和性关系视为一种独特的资本形式，他们被拒绝。本文以性别为出发点，通过使用性别演员来理解 incels 所表达的厌女症和女性恐惧症，从而为批判女性气质的新兴领域做出贡献。