In the group abound the confessions in the first person. “, The longest conversation I have had with a girl in my whole life has been one minute. My presence bothers them, they disgust them and reject me,” writes a user, “I have no partner because I can’t, but I don’t effort because I don’t have economic solvency.” Another laments: “In addition to being rejected by foidssociety rejects me only because of a disorder. “The questions appear right there:” If they could stop being incels would they do it?
Violence hit the College of Sciences and Humanities (CCH) South on Monday, of the UNAM, in Mexico City. There Jesús Israel, a 16 -year -old student, was killed by Ashton, 19, who. Behind your attack, there is a digital world where hate messages are created without control. The mental health problems and the social disappointments of young people are fed by pseudosgurús, which supply the lack of positive models for these men. The murder of Jesús Israel goes beyond a school crime.
The word incel It refers to involuntary celibes, chads Identify to attractive and popular men who represent male “success” and foids It is a derogatory term to dehumanize women. In the heart of these groups is the idea that masculinity is measured by the ability to get a partner. Users are described as victims of an unfair system where they always choose chadswhile they are relegated to invisibility, turning women into enemies.
The phenomenon incel He knows borders, but in Latin America it is aggravated by paternal absence – which reaches 40% of households – and the lack of positive male references, points Nicko Nogués, founder of the initiative Of males to men. In that context, a trend of content creators for men who offer alleged tips on how to treat women has emerged. “Internet is full of pseudogurus that offer fast manuals about how to be a man, how to link or how to handle frustration,” says Nogués. “They give simplistic answers to legitimate doubts: how to relate, how to deal with loneliness, doubts about their body. But instead of accompanying, they transform insecurity into anger and loneliness into violence,” he warns.
That ideology of an alleged feminization of the world even reached the soccer player Javier Chicharito Hernández, who reached the morning conference of Claudia Sheinbaum last July for comments that made on social networks where he assured that women “are failing” and that they must embody their “female energy” through chores such as home tasks. “He has a lot to learn,” about women, said the president. Creators also proliferate as the musician known as El Temach, who publishes videos with themes such as “The woman is unprotected if the man does not provide”, “They are manipulating you” and “Addicted to liars.”
Forum messages incels They also have a double edge, which is the violence directed towards themselves, leaving in evidence. “Many of these young people seek appreciation, understanding, company. But what they find is an ecosystem that exacerbates their resentment,” says Andrea Samaniego, a speech researcher at UNAM. “We cannot forget that behind hate messages there are teenagers who need care, referents and spaces where to be heard. The problem is that today they have more at hand are forums that legitimize their anger,” adds Nogués. Samaniego also points to institutional care: “Young people demand mental health policies that must be treated.”
The role of digital platforms is key. Algorithms, designed to retain attention, recommend more and more radical content to those who consume messages of frustration or misogyny. Thus, a teenager who seeks appointment advice can end up trapped in communities that promote hatred and violence. “The machismo that already exists in society is embedded in the algorithms and multiplies,” says Samaniego. Nogués points out some necessary changes on the platforms: “As simple measures as marking sensitive content or curbing the mass dissemination of harmful messages could help, but the industry has not wanted to apply them.”
Lex Ashton’s case showed that the speech incel It is not a distant or alien phenomenon. It is present in Mexico, it feeds on youth frustration and circulates in them. “It’s not about justifying violence, but understanding that forum speech incels It is a symptom of deeper problems: loneliness, precariousness, adult abandonment and a digital culture that does not offer healthy outputs, ”concludes Nogués.
