Dr Roose said we’ve seen about 50 people killed in North America over the last decade in relation to Incel-motivated terrorism.
In 2014, self-described incel Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others. Before the killings, he had spoken about a “war on women” and complained of women not being attracted to him.
In March, a 17-year-old who had ties to an online subculture of self-described involuntary celibates killed eight people in Atlanta.
Last month, the Texas Department of Public Safety released a report that found incels “are an emerging domestic terrorism threat as current adherents demonstrate marked acts or threats of violence in furtherance of their social grievance.”
Dr Roose said anti-women extremism needs to be taken seriously as misogyny and violence are now widely understood as a gateway to far-right and religious extremism.
“The idea is that men are warriors and women belong in the home,” Dr Roose said.
“There’s a powerful core theme that men not only need to reclaim their masculinity, but they also need to fight the cause.”
Research from Dr Roose published this year revealed young men under 35 years of age “were the demographic most likely to disagree with the statement that women deserve equal rights to men.”
For young men, accessing these communities is as easy as jumping on social media networks like Instagram or TikTok, Dr Roose said.
Dr Roose said on the manosphere, there’s often very little difference between “shitposting” (such as posting an edgy meme or joke) and a legitimate violent threat towards women.
“Shitposting is often used to disguise certain thoughts and behaviours as a joke, as nothing to get worked up about,” he told The Feed.
“What they’re often doing, though, is using a language that once we translate it, and look at it historically and in a wider context, is embedded in violence.”
Dr Roose also believes resentment and distrust in institutions during the pandemic has exacerbated the popularity of these radical online communities.
“There’s a sense of nostalgia for this sense of this past lost,” he said.
“There’s a strong sense of having no control, no power over your future and looking for someone to blame.”
He told The Feed if we don’t get it right and combat this form of extremism, it’s likely we’ll see a significant increase in new and emerging forms of violence.
“It’s critical that we get on top of the threat now because this is going to go on for the next decade or more.”
