The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women

by Lisa Sugiura

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online.

Emerging alongside the progression of women's rights in the twenty-first century is the development of the men's rights movement, parts of which have culminated into the contemporary 'manosphere.' Consisting of online communities that ascribe to misogynistic ideologies, which objectify, disparage, and dehumanise women, the manosphere also houses those who identify as involuntary celibate (incel).

Drawing on ethnographic research and interviews, this book provides an original and timely insight into the development of the manosphere, how and why people join and self-identify as incel, the extent to which the influence and philosophy of incel and the incelsphere draws on and is penetrating mainstream culture and political discourse, and its harmful impact.

The Incel Rebellion is essential reading for a broad range of practitioners and scholars across criminology, sociology, terrorism studies, gender, media and cultural studies, and politics, as well as expanding the field of cybercrime research and beyond.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Psychology

168 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 5, 2021

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and important topic which the author covers comprehensively. It is presented in academic style so may be a clunky read for those expecting a more ‘pop-culture’ perspective. Despite its compelling content, it is poorly written in terms of structure and grammar, to the extent that I found myself re-reading sections just to disentangle a sentence. That said, I believe this is fault of the publisher/editor, not the author, who I have heard speak knowledgeably, passionately and eloquently on this subject. If you have the time and the inclination to unpick it, it’s worth the read.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Courageous. Thorough. Provocative. Powerful

Sugiura explores - through high theoretical analysis and digital ethnography - the Incel movement. This is a carefully constructed book, bled of polemics, that provides a careful, evidenced investigation of the Blackpill ideology.

The hatred of women, the hatred of the feminine, is confronting. But how it is contexualized in a 'subculture' makes for a fascinating research project.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the hostility could have been avoided if they had learned to wash their own ass when they were young. Soap you Incels soap that’s all you need

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quanto mais leio (para a tese) sobre incels, blackpillers, redpillers, manosphere e machosfera, chads, stacyies, chans, beckies, MGTOW, PUAs, MRAs, tradcons, tradwives, nofappers, mais eu fico abismado com esse mundo paralelo em que eles vivem e que levam tudo isso a sério, muito a sério a ponto de se matarem por essa causa. "Se mate e leve a escória junto", eles afirmam. E a escória para eles são as mulheres, os LGBTQIAPN+, e até mesmo os homens que se dão bem com as mulheres, tão doentias são suas frustrações e ressentimentos que tem a ver com a sexualidade que eles não conseguem exercer de maneira plena. Pelo menos não da maneira que o mundo contemporâneo, cada vez mais quantificado e produzido, faz pressão para que todos tenhamos para sermos considerados pessoas dignas de aceitação. Este livro em Creative Commons, ou seja, aberto para todos, de Lisa Sugiura, dá uma boa ideia sobre a guerra contra as mulheres que a bolha, a esfera de homens na internet tem travado. Uma guerra suja, ofensiva e que tira vidas dos dois lados, mas não pelos mesmos motivos.

[Cordelia McConnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

good stuff! lots of insight- pretty dry

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recommended this read by my MSc dissertation supervisor; though it has been on my TBR list of sources related to the topic I am writing on.

This is a good piece of research on the topic of the ‘manosphere’ and Incel Violence, both of which are topics I am interested in researching about. I would recommend to anyone who also has interest in the topic, or just anyone who would like to learn/understand more about the threat these groups pose to society; particularly women.

It must be noted that this is a piece of academic research.

[Uncle Drewskii · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth the read.

I read this book for the influx in the manosphere but mostly to understand the terms and position of the author. It was a fairly quick read, with some great information and facts.

[Rachel Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given that this book presents itself as a qualitative study, I would have liked to see substantially more qualitative data analysis. The book is pretty much only a lit review, at a level that is so full of academic jargon a layperson might have difficulty following, and the existing qualitative excerpts came heavily (maybe 85-90%?) from the same respondent. I think the book would read exactly the same without that information. While an important subject and one that should be discussed, I struggle to know what actual new takeaways there were in this study.

[Zara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting content, would benefit from better editing.

[dais · Rating 5 out of 5]

good and useful