Of Lolitas and Jailbaits: An Exploration of Incel Discourse Surrounding Sex with Minors

Involuntary celibates (incels) comprise an online subculture of men unable to form a sexual or romantic relationship with a woman for reasons they perceive to be out of their control. As a result, they tend to hold extreme views centering around misogyny and hostility toward women. A particularly alarming aspect of their online discourse is the normalization and endorsement of sex with underage girls, which may constitute sexual abuse depending on the ages of the parties involved. The aim of this study was to compare incels who espouse such beliefs with those who oppose them and those who are neutral or do not discuss this topic at all, across various linguistic dimensions (e.g. anger, sadness, dehumanization). We analyzed 1,081,393 comments made over a six-year period (2017-2023) on a popular incel forum, nested in 1032 users who we identified as being in favor, against, neutral, or silent toward sex with minors. We also assessed how their use across linguistic dimensions changed during their engagement with the incel forum. Results suggested various differences between these four groups with users in favor of sex with minors initially showing lower levels of loneliness. As they spent more time on the forum, these users showed an increase in loneliness and the use of animalistic dehumanization, but also in positive emotions. Implications and further directions are discussed.