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

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.

Automated summary

In recent years, there has been significant attention on incel communities, which consist of individuals who are involuntarily celibate and dissatisfied with their experiences of romantic and sexual rejection. These communities attribute their grievances to women and the rejection of hegemonic masculinity in society. Previous research has produced conflicting results regarding the prevalence of autism in incel communities compared to the general population. However, there has been no exploration of the intersection between incels and autism from the perspective of incel community members. This study uses a critical autism lens to analyze 20 online incel message boards, aiming to understand the experiences of self-identified autistic incels. The findings reveal that incels employ internalized ableism of autism to justify their victimhood and entitlement, which forms the basis of their ideology. This weaponization of autism is then used to promote ableism and networked misogyny. The implications of these findings for understanding ableist and misogynistic beliefs associated with inceldom are discussed.