An analysis of self-other representations in the incelosphere: Between online misogyny and self-contempt

Abstract

The present study intends to contribute to the analysis of digital discursive practices of hate speech expressed throughout the so-called ‘Manosphere’, a group of online communities in which men express their considerations about masculinity. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, it investigates how one of the main Manosphere groups, the Incels, creates its in-group/out-group discourse through its representations of women and of themselves. Driven by Critical Discourse Studies and studies on the ideological function of metaphors, the first part of the analysis reveals a conflation of apparently sarcastic metaphors, dark humour, and misogyny used to talk about women, while the second section of the study focuses on the peculiar self-representations of the men who participate in the forum, which breach Van Dijk’s ‘us vs them’ identity square pattern: rather than emphasising the positive traits of the in-group, incels describe themselves through self-derogative nominations and predications that give way to a spiral of self-pitying and self-contempt, which might be used to create fraternal bonds within the community.