Taking the “Black Pill”: Anomie, Perceived Social Death, and the Incel Phenomenon Online

ABSTRACT

Research on incels has largely focused on economic theory, misogyny that incels display in online forums, or their potential threat of violence. This paper proposes to look at the incel phenomenon through the lens of sociological theory, specifically through the lens of social death which the researchers are calling “perceived social death.” This research focuses on incels who have adopted a “black pill” identity and express a form of perceived social death in which black-pilled incels believe themselves to be involuntarily disengaged from society to live as socially dead individuals. Black pillers are often described as a more nihilistic incel identity but such a description does not capture the complexity and nuanced differences between different forms of incels. The researchers looked for themes of social death through online postings in known incel forums to gain a better understanding of the social forces that push these individuals to adopt the label of “incel.”

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ These terms are largely defined by the incel community itself. A list of terms and their definitions can be found on the Incels Wiki (http://incels.wiki/w/Incel_Glossary).

² Incels.wiki/w/scientific_blackpill is dedicated to outlining scientific findings that support incel ideology citing research from a variety of sources including American Sociological Review, Journal of Positive Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Archives of Sexual Behavior

³ For those unfamiliar with internet forums, threads are the first post and akin to a conversation whereas posts are replies to those conversations.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aaron Puhrmann

Aaron Puhrmann ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice and chair of the Department of Sociology at Grand View University. His research interest lie in the relationships between gender and crime but maintains broad interests in disparities and inequalities in the criminal justice system, especially in regard to both racial profiling and migration. He has written of subjects pertaining to drug courts, robbery, and immigration.

Christian A. I. Schlaerth

Christian A. I. Schlaerth ([email protected]) graduated from the University of Miami with a PhD in sociology in 2014 and currently serves as the Department Chair of Criminal Justice at Waldorf University in Forest City, IA. He has written on subjects pertaining to service-learning, social theory, and modern labor movements, particularly in higher education. His areas of interest are theory, race, neo-liberalism, the future of higher education, and more recently incel cultures online.