Discovery Story Pitch
For my discovery story I plan to explore the mindset and ideology of a predominantly male, heterosexual group known as “incels.” The incel [involuntary celibates] movement is made up of members of an online subculture who share an inability to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one.
This community primarily gathers together in the darkest corners of the internet, on websites such as 4chan, Voat, and Reddit. They’ve even created their own webpage, Incels.net.
A BBC documentary investigating this movement states that these men are dangerous because their anti-feminist rhetoric imply that women’s time, bodies, and sexual desires should be primarily centered around men, which leads to a culture of violence.
This story is timely because recently, the hostile, misogynistic viewpoints of the incel movement have been linked to several mass murders in America, tying together the most violent of men. To bring color and to add a narrative structure to the piece, I will keep the focus on the history and motivations of the incels by utilizing description while incorporating factual analysis.
In order to create a well-rounded story with rich and varied perspectives, I plan to interview current and former members of the incel movement as well as those in opposition to inceldom, both of which will be the main voices. Though I have no personal connections to any members of the incel community, I have a thorough knowledge of their ideology and have access to reports on them.
Additionally, my gender communication course taught a lecture on them and I even wrote a report for my midterm in the class on how this movement is a precursor to gendered violence. Finally, I will include multimedia elements such as video and manifesto from members of the incel group. Possible headlines include: “The birth of an incel,” or “An investigation into the mindset of inceldom.”
