Departmental Papers (ASC)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2019
Publication Source
International Journal of Communication
Volume
13
Start Page
1
Last Page
26
Abstract
Between 2007 and 2018, the pick-up artist community—“gurus” who teach online networks of heterosexual men to seduce women—gave rise to a different online community, that of “incels,” who create homosocial bonds over their inability to become a pick-up artist. In this article, we offer a conjunctural analysis of this shift and argue that this decade represents a decline in, or even a failure of, neoliberalism’s ability to secure subjects within its political rationality. We argue that neoliberalism cannot cope with its failures, especially its promises of self-confidence. Such promises themselves become exposed as confidence games, which are then rerouted through networked misogyny, resulting in ordinary and spectacular violence against women. Moreover, incels express their rage through language of uprising and a war on women. Their actions are on a continuum of reactive violent responses to women’s refusal of social reproduction roles and aim to defend and restore patriarchal order.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Copyright © 2019 (Jack Bratich, jbratich@rutgers.edu, and Sarah Banet-Weiser, S.Banet-Weiser@lse.ac.uk). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at http://ijoc.org
Keywords
incels, misogyny, popular feminism, neoliberalism, pick-up artists, social reproduction, confidence
Recommended Citation
Banet-Weiser, S., & Bratich, J. (2019). From Pick-Up Artists to Incels: Con(fidence) Games, Networked Misogyny, and the Failure of Neoliberalism. International Journal of Communication, 13 1-26. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/834
Date Posted: 20 February 2023
This document has been peer reviewed.