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Archives of Sexual Behavior (2024) 53:917–930
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02796-z
ORIGINAL PAPER
Femcel Discussions ofSex, Frustration, Power, andRevenge
HannahRaeEvans1· AdamLankford1
Received: 1 August 2023 / Revised: 15 December 2023 / Accepted: 19 December 2023 / Published online: 19 January 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
Abstract
Although male incels have received a great deal of scholarly attention in recent years, there has been almost no research on
femcels (involuntarily celibate women). After collecting data from more than 24,000 femcel posts, we drew from a recently
developed sexual frustration theory and conducted qualitative analyses of approximately 1200. Overall, our findings suggest
that (1) femcels struggled with multiple types of sexual frustration; (2) they frequently discussed the gender dynamics of both
sex and power; (3) they were more interested in their own frustrations than men’s frustrations; and (4) despite some notable
exceptions, they exhibited less support for aggression, violence, and crime than what has been reported about male incels.
Although some femcels referenced their anger, hatred, or desires for revenge, this antipathy may have been rooted in their
concerns about how to find a suitable intimate partner while avoiding the threat women often face from violent men. Despite
this challenge, most femcels who wanted to enhance their situation or increase their power sought to do so through legal
means (e.g., self-improvement, group mobilization, or challenging the patriarchy) and did not express violent intent. Further
research on femcels, and the evidence-based strategies that could help them, would be a significant contribution to society.
Keywords Femcels· Incels· Involuntary celibacy· Sexual frustration theory· Power· Revenge
Introduction
In 2014, six civilians were murdered near a college campus
in California (Brown, 2015). In 2018, 11 pedestrians were
killed after being intentionally run over in Toronto, Canada
(CBC, 2018). These two horrific incidents, along with other
violent attacks in the USA and elsewhere, have been commit-
ted by involuntarily celibate men—also known as “incels”
(Cottee, 2021).1 More broadly, some researchers suggest that
male incels contribute to a misogynistic culture in which vio-
lence against women and mass killings become more likely
(Cottee, 2021; Hoffman etal., 2020; O’Malley etal., 2022;
Scaptura & Boyle, 2020; Speckhard etal., 2021). Although
most incels do not personally commit violent attacks, many
are angry and tend to blame women for their inability to find
romantic relationships or have sex (Cottee, 2021; Hoffman
etal., 2020).
But what about women who are involuntarily celibate?
A common assumption is that women can have sex when-
ever they want, which then leads to the false belief that if
women are not in a relationship, it is always because they
prefer to be single (Kay, 2022). However, some women are
extremely frustrated and upset that they have not found a suit-
able intimate partner, or wish they had more opportunities
to have sex when they want, how they want, with someone
they want (Donnelly etal., 2001; Kay, 2022; Wu, 2022). Not
surprisingly, given modern communication norms, frustrated
women have created online communities, such as “The Pink
Pill” website. Although “femcels” who participate in these
forums are far less common than the estimated 100,000 male
incels who congregate in online communities (ADL, 2020),
ThePinkPill.co had more than 600 registered members who
collectively wrote tens of thousands of internet discussion
posts from May 2021 to May 2022.2
Remarkably, there has been almost no research on femcel
communities or what the women who join them have to say.
* Adam Lankford
Adam.Lankford@ua.edu
1 Department ofCriminology andCriminal Justice, The
University ofAlabama, P.O. Box870320, Tuscaloosa,
AL35487, USA
1 Although the 2014 Isla Vista shooter is often associated with incel
violence, he was not a regular participant in online incel communities
like some other incel attackers.
2 At the moment we write this, ThePinkPill.co website is not avail-
able for user posts and has the following message on its home page:
“ThePinkPill.co will be right back.”
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