(Mis)perceptions of Gender-Based Violence: The Framing of Incels in News Media

Abstract

Emerging groups such as the involuntary celibate (incel) subculture are finding new ways of reproducing real-world harm and violence against women making international headlines. Media portrayals of gender-based violence (GBV) are often problematic and at times inaccurate representations of the phenomenon. This qualitative content analysis of incel depictions in news articles published in Canada, the US, and the UK demonstrates that news media framing of the incel subculture is varied and multidimensional. The findings indicate four salient incel frames: "humanized" incels, "debilitated" incels, "sinister" incels, and "cyber" incels, each constructed using distinctive scripts that capture particular elements and describe both incel members and the subculture as a whole. More broadly, these frames can be organized into two distinct interpretations, the personalized and the politicized approach. The findings of this analysis reveal a tendency for the media to frame the incel subculture as a group of strange outcasts and 'weirdos', as well as potentially dangerous individuals. Pathologizing incel members as deviant others, distinct from ordinary men, can be problematic as it suggests that explicit sexism is confined to these small groups rather than being symbolic of wider societal perspectives and behaviours.