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Today in a Reddit discussion about incels, someone said something pretty mind-blowing to me.
She said (paraphrased) that the issue not that "incels are violent because they don't get sex," but rather that there have always been violent men. In decades past, these are the men who would have raped and beaten their wives. Nowadays, women have more agency, which means fewer violent men have access to women they can abuse. So, they are directing their violence outward.
I will never see incels the same way again. Like, I thought of them as immature and unhappy people who had decided that lack of sex was the reason for their unhappiness, and that the idea that "everyone deserves to be happy" believe had led them to believe that they were entitled to sex. Her explanation makes me see the whole thing differently.
I mean, I guess they're still emotionally immature, unhappy, and entitled. But now I see them in a different context. These are the men who, if they could, would abuse wives. Without wives, they're stuck with their own impotent rage.
She said (paraphrased) that the issue not that "incels are violent because they don't get sex," but rather that there have always been violent men. In decades past, these are the men who would have raped and beaten their wives. Nowadays, women have more agency, which means fewer violent men have access to women they can abuse. So, they are directing their violence outward.
I will never see incels the same way again. Like, I thought of them as immature and unhappy people who had decided that lack of sex was the reason for their unhappiness, and that the idea that "everyone deserves to be happy" believe had led them to believe that they were entitled to sex. Her explanation makes me see the whole thing differently.
I mean, I guess they're still emotionally immature, unhappy, and entitled. But now I see them in a different context. These are the men who, if they could, would abuse wives. Without wives, they're stuck with their own impotent rage.