The misogynist incel in the news: Analysing representations of gender-based violence in Britain

Abstract

The Plymouth shooting in August 2021 attracted worldwide attention after media outlets reported on it as ‘incel violence’. By examining misogynist incels’ discussions of the shooting, the perpetrator’s YouTube videos, and media reportage by five UK newspapers, this article takes a critical look at newspapers’ representations of the shooting. While the perpetrator did not unambiguously self-describe to the incel identity, and misogynist incels were divided on the perpetrator’s incel status, the newspapers saw the attack as the spread of ‘incel culture’. This indicates that the media plays a role in the public imagination of misogynist incels. The article argues that the concept of incel violence risks overshadowing other forms of misogynistic violence in society through how the misogynist incel is imagined in public discourse which, consequently, impacts our understanding of misogyny. This article contributes to our understanding of how public discourse forms representations of gender-based violence in Britain.