How incel users' communication discriminate women : A netnography investigating the misogyny on the forum Incels.is

Abstract: This paper seeks to answer how misogyny is expressed in the forum incels.is, a discussion board forum where incel users engage in threads to talk to each other about the difficulties of not having sexual or romantic relations. The method chosen is netnography, which helps when studying sensitive subjects and communities, and requires the researcher to be aware of any bias that they carry.  The netnography was conducted in the prefixes Ragefuel and Blackpill, which resulted in seven categories of misogyny and how they are manifested in the threads on the forum. By looking at previous research of incels, incel communities and misogyny, and with the theories of virtual communities, subcultures, participation and groupthink, the results of the study are discussed to understand how misogyny manifests on the forum. It is concluded that misogyny is manifested through seven categories on the forum, and how seeing incels as a subculture would allow their participation of misogyny to be observed more closely, as their virtual community serves as a function of upholding the cultural specificities Cottee (2020) claims are typical of incels. Further, future research is recommended to focus on how algorithms and the forum (serving as an echo chamber) indoctrinate new users to hate women.