If You Think Incels Are 'Gross, Basement Dwellers', Your Smug Politics Are Part Of The Problem

One moment really stood out for me in the show Adolescence. For those of you who haven’t seen it (and you should!), Adolescence follows the fallout after a teenage boy, Jamie, murders one of his school mates, Katie. Over the course of the series, investigations find out the Jamie had been chronically bullied on social media, with students calling him ugly and an incel. The show in turn has sparked debate about the influence of the manosphere on young men – a collection of social media groups, led by the likes of Andrew Tate, that are sprouting misogynistic and violent rubbish online. In the second episode, two cops – DI Luke Bascome and DS Misha Frank interview students in Jamie’s school. In between interviews Frank questions the point – they have enough evidence to convict Jamie, why waste their time there? She’s particularly concerned that they’re focused too much on Jamie, while Katie is getting ignored. Bascome replies that he feels it is not enough to just have the evidence, they need to understand why Jamie did it. Frank doesn’t agree, because they’ll never really understand why. I have been researching the manosphere for years now. I have delved deeply into the inner sanctum of these communities, spending hours reading hateful misogynistic material all with one aim – to do what Bascome wants and truly understand why it appeals so many young men. When I started this work, I thought this desire to understand would be, understood. Instead, like the response from Frank, I have often found the opposite. This quest of mine has often made people quite uncomfortable. Some of the reasons for this are extremely understandable. Many are rightfully concerned that understanding movements like the manosphere crosses a line into justifying the views and actions of their leaders and acolytes. In seeking to find what led someone to violence like that committed by Jamie, we can end up excusing that behaviour – they did it because of bullying, economic stress, or mental health issues. Any personal responsibility is washed away from their heinous acts. Yet, I have often found a more worrying reason. Quickly search on social media and you’ll see that many have already decided that they understand the men of this community. They see them as ‘basement dwellers’, ‘the losers of society’ or ‘man children’. Disappointingly, even some researchers, who are supposed to want to go deeper, head down this path. Talking about a trend of incels using plastic surgery to change their looks, the Australian researcher Emma Jane says “this is just more radicalised misogyny from a legion of noxious internet bottom-dwellers”. This ‘smug politics’ not just looks down at manosphere men, but simplifies them, by assuming that they are just inherently ‘bad’. In turn there is nothing to understand – these men are just like that. All we can do is shun them, never to be allowed to return to normal society.  There are multiple problems with this, the most obviously being that it is fundamentally incorrect. Misogyny doesn’t just come from nowhere. In fact, as I argue in my book, The Male Complaint, the manosphere, and the violence that comes from it, is not an aberration, or the symptom of bad men. Instead, it us. This community is deeply embedded in our society, structures and ideologies and ideas that underpin it. Seeking to understand this does not excuse these men. Instead, it helps us realise that misogyny comes from somewhere and in turn can be addressed and even erased from society. The alternative is to just to throw up our arms and let the violence continue – something I just cannot accept. Of course, we must do this understanding sensitive ways. Seeking to understand these men should not mean that we excuse for their views or behaviour, nor that they should not be held accountable – even if they leave the movement. And we must ensure that we always centre the victims of their violence in everything we do. Understanding, and engaging, also doesn’t have to be the job of everyone – some may not have the capacity or willingness to seek out this material and to understand it deeply. We must respect that. At the same time, however, we also can’t hide in any bubbles, hoping that we can just push the men of the manosphere to the edge of society and leave them there. Misogyny doesn’t come from nowhere, and the ,anosphere didn’t just sprout from nothing. We need to seek to understand these communities so that we can figure out the causes and tackle them. As Rachel O’Neill writes, “unless we accept the idea that some men just hate women – that misogyny really is an immovable force – then we need to understand what draws men to the manosphere.” Dr. Simon Copland is a researcher at the Australian National University, who is an expert in online misogyny, extremism, and male violence.His new book, The Male Complaint seeks to find out why  figures who perpetuate these toxic views and behaviours (Tate, Trump, etc) not only thrive but are embraced by so many.Related...I Entered The World Of Incels. Nothing Could Prepare Me For What I Found.If You Think Adolescence Is Just About Online Incel Groups, You Missed The PointFrom The Manosphere To The Red Pill: Adolescence Terms (And Emojis) Explained