By Anna Torrance and Sumayyah Mussa

Manchester Metropolitan University’s 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Festival continued with a powerful discussion surrounding the harmful language and ideologies perpetuated by incels.

Led by author and lecturer Dr Frazer Heritage and poet Caroline Stancer, the thought-provoking discussion brought to light how the harmful rhetoric of incels seeps into our daily lives, normalising sexism and violence against women and girls. Through poetry and language analysis, Heritage and Stancer raised awareness of the insidious effects of this harmful rhetoric.

Dr Heritage began by defining incels: “An incel refers to a person who wishes to, but for reasons that they feel is out their control, does not have sexual or romantic relationships with women. This lack of ability to enter into those sexual or romantic relationships lead to feelings of frustration, and the blame for that gets placed on women and the men they have sexual relationships with.”

He explained how incels view themselves as victims of society and detailed the use of language in constructing misogynistic views about women. Heritage highlighted the prevalence of metaphors in incel rhetoric: “The different ways the incel community talk about women in dehumanising [terms] is one of the most common linguistic features we see going on in the incel community.” He added that the use of metaphors is particularly pervasive.

Heritage pointed out the normalisation of animalistic metaphors such as “bitch”, “cow” and “dog”, calling on the audience to rethink everyday language which can create and reinforce harmful rhetoric against women. In addition, Heritage addressed how the use of food-related metaphors such as “curry” to describe South Asian women, reinforce objectification and racial stereotyping.

The discussion was interspersed with captivating poetry readings by Caroline Stancer. Her work provided a creative angle, tackling themes of toxic masculinity and gender-based violence. Her poems, rich with perspectives and motifs, added depth to the discussion on incel ideologies and gender inequality.

A strong and recurring theme underlying Stancer’s poetry was the issue of body image and control over one’s body. One striking line, “You should not love your body like a warrior,” resonated deeply with Heritage’s discussion on how language subordinates women, as degrading comments surrounding women’s bodies are so normalised.

One of Stancer’s poems, ‘Selkie Singing of the Sea’, explored the empowerment and individuality of women through Celtic mythology. The poem’s unique perspective showcased how gender-based violence can be challenged in different ways and that our emotions can be channelled through creative outlooks. “His hunger, a gift for damage.”

Stancer’s poignant delivery captivated the audience, who were drawn to her fresh perspective on such a challenging topic. Her poetry underscored how language can also be a force for resistance and healing.

The event concluded with a lively Q&A. One audience member asked about the connection between incel ideologies and violent sexual perceptions, including the influence of pornography. Heritage responded: “The work of researchers like Lisa Sugiora and Alessia Tranquessa have mapped out those differences in the language using incel fora and the language using descriptions of violent pornography and there’s a really clear overlap. There is quite a clear synergy between the two and a lot of commonalities.”

Heritage highlighted the importance of addressing incel ideology at its roots, calling for education and collaboration: “We shouldn’t have people talk about women and other people in those ways. What I’ve been working on lately is exploring how we can educate safeguarding experts.”

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Festival runs from 25th November to 10th December, 2024. For more information and tickets, visit mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events.