Incel ideology has expanded past the literal "involuntarily celibate" definition. One can be an incel without being a virgin:

Incel rhetoric invokes an idealized patriarchal society in which couples adhered to traditional gender roles, married early, and were strictly monogamous. During this mythologized "golden age", incels imagine that all men had nearly unencumbered access to women as romantic partners, thereby reducing the competition for sex.[12][61][62] Incels often disagree about precisely when this golden age occurred, but they concur that it was gradually destroyed by feminism, the sexual revolution, women's liberation, and technological progress.[61] As a result, incels tend to blame both women and the feminist movement for their inability to find a partner.[12][63] A 2025 study found involuntary celibacy was associated with criticism of liberalism. Incels were overwhelmingly found to be illiberal, supporting a more "just" traditional past in which men, as a social group, enjoyed a more privileged status. Stemming from this view, incels express strong aversion towards social outgroups that challenge men's position: these groups namely include modern women, feminism, and the overall liberal, inclusive, pluralistic society as a whole that allows for the prominence of these outgroups.[64]

Incel discourse is characterized by resentment and hatred, self-pity, hostile sexism, anti-feminism, racism, sexual objectification and dehumanization of women, misogyny, misanthropy, and nihilism.[10] Discussions often revolve around the belief that men are entitled to sex from women.[73][67][74][75] In the incel worldview, the only solution to male sexlessness is a rigidly patriarchal social structure encompassing enforced monogamy and the elimination of women's rights, thereby increasing women's dependency on men.[80] Some incels also advocate for sexual slavery, legalized rape, punishment for female promiscuity, redistribution of women, and violence against feminists.[80][63]

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