Involuntarily Celibate Men: Gender and Vulnerability in Times of Precarious Love

The aim of this 3-year project is to investigate how various groups of heterosexual men conceptualize and deal with experiences of involuntary celibacy, and what role conceptions of gender, sex, love and male vulnerability play when they make sense of their position in heterosexual intimacy.

More broadly, the case of involuntarily celibate men is used as an empirical lens through which we aim to contribute to theoretical debates about (i) recent transformations of the gendered conditions of intimacy and (ii) men’s experiences of vulnerability in a general context marked by male privilege.

Through a study of online forums, interviews and a survey, the project investigates both the online ‘incel’ community, known for nourishing misogynist, pro-violence attitudes, and the everyday experiences of a broader segment of the heterosexual male population with experiences of involuntary celibacy.The project will advance knowledge on the life conditions and experiences of a group of men that constitutes the recruitment base for an extremist community that feeds misogynist attitudes and spurs violence against women, to the extent that it is pointed out as a growing terror threat.

By relating in novel ways the phenomenon of involuntarily celibate men to a theoretical field that conceptualizes the increasing precarity of intimacy in postindustrial societies, the project will also make significant broader theoretical contributions about men’s position in the gendered conditions of intimacy.