“Just Be White (JBW)”: Incels, Race and the Violence of Whiteness

Abstract

Largely operating online, incels are predominantly male individuals who are frustrated by their involuntary celibacy—their inability to get a romantic or sexual partner. Their worldview is grounded in hostile sexism largely directed at women and shared contempt for mainstream dating standards and feminism. Some incels posit that they can undertake specific racially-defined actions (i.e., skin bleaching, lying about one's ethnicity, cosmetic surgery) to increase their access to women by appearing more white and, hence, more desirable. By thematically analyzing 10 online incel forums on the topic of race, this research identifies the role of race as a sustaining facilitator of networked misogyny and white supremacy. Despite these racialized efforts to appear more white, many incels conclude that these efforts to change themselves are largely ineffective in increasing their access to women. Seeing as over half of incels seek counseling and social work services, this research puts forth several implications for social workers supporting incel clients and highlights the importance of understanding the role that race plays in incel clients’ rhetoric—not only in reproducing racism, but also in provoking violence-sustaining affects (e.g., anger, disappointment, resentment) that generate a shared sense of betrayal and reinforce gender-based violence.

Ressentiment in the Manosphere: Conceptions of Morality and Avenues for Resistance in the Incel Hatred Pipeline

“…One area that we did not explore here but that is worth engaging with is race perception as a reason for romantic failure in incel communities, its relationship to ressentiment, and its link with moral emotionality. The incel sexual market value [80] is dependent on Eurocentric conventions of aestheticism and beauty [81]. There is a racial hierarchy within the incel community, founded on "racepill" ideology, and race plays a significant factor in the dating world-white men are considered to have the most advantages, and everyone else is inferior [82].…”

“…There is a racial hierarchy within the incel community, founded on "racepill" ideology, and race plays a significant factor in the dating world-white men are considered to have the most advantages, and everyone else is inferior [82]. Consuming the racepill means an incel is aware of the role of race in romantic endeavours [81]. JBW (Just Be White) and whitemaxxing are expressions used to encourage incels to look more Eurocentric.…”

Death to Chad and Stacy: Incels and anti-fandom as group identity

“…Our methods preclude demographic analysis, but we are cautious not to label incels a solely White or Western phenomenon. Incels.is is rife with White victimhood, anti-Black racism, and anti-semitism, and others have written on "JBW" ("just be white") or "racepill" as supremacist beliefs that equate Whiteness with physical attractiveness (Gheorghe, 2023;Green et al, 2023). But this is a major point of contention for many Incels of Color, which sample statistics from a separate survey suggest to be about half (Speckhard et al, 2021).…”

Identifying Pathways to the Incel Community and Where to Intervene: A Qualitative Study with Former Incels

“…As a mainly online, anonymous group, details of the Incel community's demographics remain unknown. Recent research suggests that common perceptions that Incels are almost all White are inaccurate (Gheorghe, 2024;Glace et al, 2021;Høiland, 2019). Many online anti-feminist groups, like Incels, overlap with White supremacist groups (e.g., Alt-Right; Gheorghe, 2024), but racial identity may be more complex in Incel spaces (Gheorghe, 2024;Glace et al, 2021;Høiland, 2019).…”

“…Recent research suggests that common perceptions that Incels are almost all White are inaccurate (Gheorghe, 2024;Glace et al, 2021;Høiland, 2019). Many online anti-feminist groups, like Incels, overlap with White supremacist groups (e.g., Alt-Right; Gheorghe, 2024), but racial identity may be more complex in Incel spaces (Gheorghe, 2024;Glace et al, 2021;Høiland, 2019). Many Incels online report that they are Asian, though social media posts from Incel forums also express racism, especially anti-Black racism (Glace et al, 2021).…”