Incels: The Dangerous New Wave of Women-Haters

At first, the senseless November 2nd murders of two women at a Tallahassee, Florida, yoga studio may have seemed to be a random act of violence by a lone gunman. But it soon became apparent that the gunman (we refuse to use his name), who wounded four others and pistol-whipped a fifth victim before killing himself, was associated with a group—a men’s “movement,” some call it—whose targets are, simply, women.

The Tallahassee gunman reportedly had a history of harassing women and was twice arrested for groping. His social media accounts were strewn with sexist slurs and rants against “whores” and “slutty girls.” Among his numerous vicious video posts was a song threatening to “blow off” a woman’s head. And in another clip he referenced a misogynist mass murderer—and a martyr/hero to the subculture known as “incels.”