Weaponized Autism: Making Sense of Violent Internalized Ableism in Online Incel Communities

ABSTRACT

Much attention has been paid to incel communities in recent years. Comprised of involuntary celibate individuals who are dissatisfied with their shared experiences of romantic and sexual rejection, incels blame women and the societal rejection of hegemonic masculinity as the cause of their grievances. Current scholarship has produced conflicting results regarding the prevalence of autism within incel communities when compared to the general population. At the same time, no research to date has explored the intersection of incels and autism using perspectives from individuals in the incel community. Using a critical autism lens, this present study thematically analyzes 20 online incel message boards to explore the sense-making of self-identified autistic incels. Findings indicate that incels’ internalized ableism of autism is employed to categorically justify the victimhood and entitlement that grounds their ideology. This weaponization of autism is then used to promote ableism and networked misogyny. Implications for understanding ableist and misogynistic beliefs associated with inceldom are provided.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

¹ This research uses identity-first terminology in line with autistic advocates’ recommendations to emphasize that autism is an inherent part of one’s identity (Taboas et al. 2023).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Ruxandra Mihaela Gheorghe

Ruxandra M. Gheorghe, MA, MSW, is a social worker and doctoral candidate at Carleton University’s School of Social Work in Canada. Her current research is concerned with articulations of toxic masculinity in direct therapeutic practice.

David Yuzva Clement

David Yuzva Clement, PhD, is an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University’s School of Social Work in Canada. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT).