NO ONE HATES JUST MEXICANS:

Incels obsess over their "beta" status and how to become "alpha", like the Chads. And occasionally Incels talk of taking arms against their seas of troubles, ending their "#incelnightmare" in an "#incelrebellion."

In their excited talk about rebellion and revenge, they often venerate Incels who have committed mass murder, even as the rest of the world condemns them as pathetic cowards. The young man who rampaged through Isla Vista, California in 2014, killing six people and then himself, is considered a celebrity. Likewise, since an Incel killed five people in Plymouth, UK, last August, traffic to UK-based Incel forums has increased sixfold.

Are Incels an aberration of 21st century Western culture? Do they arise because the Internet breeds misogyny and radicalises men against feminism? Or do local circumstances, in the places where they live their offline lives, prod some men toward Inceldom when they go online.

While the term "Incel" has only been around since the early '90s, misogyny and male anger have been around far longer. History suggests that today's Incels are just the most recent expression of an ancient problem so widespread that psychologists have given it a name: "young male syndrome." Young men whose circumstances furnish few prospects of finding a partner will risk their lives and futures to improve those prospects by jostling with others for status and respect.

These behaviours are more common in men because, as genetic studies show, for millions of years far more men than women died without ever having children. Your ancestors--and mine--were among those who escaped the Incel fate by outcompeting their contemporaries.

Young men, especially ones not born to status, have the least to offer a potential mate. Their vulnerability to remaining involuntarily celibate makes them especially prone to frustration and anger. They have much to gain and little to lose in risky competition for status.

How men seek to avoid the Incel fate depends on the avenues open for them to gain status and respect. Some show off with crazy stunts, dangerous driving, or fighting. Others throw themselves into sports or risky jobs. A few gravitate to crime and gangs. And, in the 21st century, some fulminate on social media.

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