Take a look at this post on Facebook from Elliott Hulse.
The photo insinuates that “real men” want traditional women who will bend to their rules and dress “appropriately” according to their standards.
What do you think about it? Joke material, right?
If you think so then feel free to DM Elliott Hulse to find like-minded incels.
Well, there are some things to unpack here, then. Not that I mean to sound so serious, though.
Every day, we all see at least one or a handful of misogynistic posts on social media. These posts are often overlooked or dismissed as jokes in Internet culture, thanks to traditional social norms. Women are always at the receiving end of these jokes, with men poking fun at progressive beliefs like feminism and at anything they can think of – the way women talk, act, and express themselves.
Everything about forward-thinking and ‘non-traditional’ women seems to bother men, and they project it with subtlety on the Internet as a form of reassurance that these women are missing out – on them. These men call themselves “Incels”.
That wasn’t even how ‘incel’ was defined decades ago.
Short for “involuntary celibate,” incel is an online community first made by a young Canadian woman named Alana back in 1993 in hopes of helping those experiencing loneliness or those who have not been in a relationship at all. While it started as a wholesome and inclusive haven for introverted and socially awkward people and their romantic problems, the community became a more toxic and dangerous subculture that is now infamous. For the wrong reasons, of course.
Incels nowadays are known to be misogynistic and sexist (predominantly white) men that often hold their discussions on Internet forums about their resentment, hatred, and grudges against women. Some discussions by incel communities are usually concerned with men being entitled to sex, women being thought of as sex objects and inferior to men, and the promotion of sexual violence against women (Stacys) and harassment of more successful men (Chads).
Though these people may sound like the typical sexist and close-minded individual, incels are more menacing than you think. Self-identified incels have committed seven mass murders since 2014, and in 2018, their ideology was named as a terrorist threat.
Most incels believe that women are inferior to them, and that they are the cause of their loneliness. They believe that they are entitled to women’s bodies and to sex, just because they think they’re “nice guys”. This line of thinking is dangerous and wrong in many ways.
To start, women aren’t and should never be treated as subordinate to men and as objects. Women are human beings with their own agency; they are allowed to choose what they want to do and who they want to befriend. They are human beings allowed to express themselves in the way they want to, whether they please men or not.
Women are their own persons – they should not be manipulated by anyone else for the latter’s benefit. They are not puppets that can be controlled to move by their master’s commands, nor are they toys or dolls to play with. Women are valuable human beings who deserve love and respect just like anyone else.
Women do not owe men anything – their bodies, their friendship, their interest. None. No man is entitled to a woman’s body just because they’re broken. Women aren’t like Bob the Builder who can fix anything, mind you. He’s a fictional children’s character that can fix anything, except degenerate logic.
To be quite frank, there’s no such thing as being a subtle incel. It’s literally just misogyny as plain as day. And no, incels will never be nice guys or real men.
In response to that Facebook post above even if it is a joke, a real man would never restrict women from the things they want to do or how they’d want to express themselves. Real men would even be encouraging and supportive of progressive beliefs, because it’s rightfully so.
For the nth time, it’s 2021. Pack up the outdated ways, people. Let’s bid goodbye to all the Elliott Hulses and Chads of the world. Let’s all learn how to treat each other right, without being degenerate animals.
Other POP! stories you might like:
Feminist misconceptions: Korean MC JaeJae, chocolate & being ‘anti-men’
Unpack liberal feminism ‘Girl Boss’ culture and make intersectional feminism a reality
HERstory: The evolution of motherhood & women’s roles in the Philippines
Johnoy Danao calls for ‘common courtesy’ against using his songs for free
‘With teaching I found fulfillment’: Teaching a contact sport online