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Hierarchized masculinity, appearance, and radicalization: The role of physical appearance in the incel movement




TekijätSippel, Kirsti

KustantajaMIT Press

Julkaisuvuosi2025

Lehti: European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology

ISSN2325-4823

eISSN2325-4815

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1162/ECPS.a.42

Julkaisun avoimuus kirjaamishetkelläAvoimesti saatavilla

Julkaisukanavan avoimuus Osittain avoin julkaisukanava

Verkko-osoitehttps://doi.org/10.1162/ecps.a.42

Rinnakkaistallenteen osoitehttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/506216484

Rinnakkaistallenteen lisenssiCC BY NC

Rinnakkaistallennetun julkaisun versioKustantajan versio


Tiivistelmä

Incels (short for “involuntary celibates”) are men who struggle to form romantic and sexual relationships. Operating within the manosphere, they share a male supremacist ideology marked by glorification of violence, entitlement to sexual access, and masculine dominance hierarchies. Prior research has emphasized harmful displays of masculinity and heteropatriarchal structures within incel networks, including their links to extremist violence, but has paid less attention to the salience of appearance and masculine hierarchies and their role in sustaining perceived exclusion. This article analyzes incel discourse, focusing on how aesthetic capital constructs masculine hierarchies and functions as a form of currency through “lookism” and related terminology. The findings indicate that while misogyny and pro-violence attitudes are foundational to the incel movement, appearance-focused discourse upholds and amplifies perceptions of victimhood, reinforcing patriarchal, anti-feminist worldviews. Appearance thus emerges as a central marker in incel rhetoric that is tied to the dominance hierarchies that define incel status.


Ladattava julkaisu

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.




Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot
University of Turku Graduate School UTUGS.


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