Are Incels a Cult? They check 22/35 boxes.

The BITE model was developed by Steven Hassan, and based on research from other experts in cult psychology. You can learn more here.

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Some notes on the asterisks:

• Control clothing and hairstyle - Incels don't regulate this directly in their members, but every other aspect of appearance is scrutinized and criticized so I gave them this point
• Restrict leisure time and activities - Incels again don't directly control other members, but they do put down anyone who suggests going out and doing things they enjoy, those are "cope" and that is bad apparently. "Just lay down and rot" in your leisure time is the go-to with incels, so they get this one too.
• Allow only positive thoughts - I think we all know incels do the exact opposite, so I gave them this point as well.

While I would say they're definitely close to being one, they're not quite at that stage yet. I like to think of them more like a pyramid scheme, in which people buy into it thinking its the answer but only end up shilling their ideology to everyone else in the attempt to climb the social hierarchy they've established.

I've been saying for a while that incels represent a new development- or at the least, a rare one- in cults, namely a decentralized cult. (I guess in a way you could argue this is an actual memetic virus, but that's a separate argument all together.)

The traditional standards don't always apply and in some cases, the express negativity- the aspects that get capital I Incel ideology dubbed a death cult invert the traditional traits. For example, the Lalich & Langong list includes "‪ The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity)." Incels do the exact opposite- they require the acceptance of the fact that they have failed on every level society require.

It's fascinating shit and I hope sociologist are paying attention.

dang I've been in an actual cult that ticked fewer boxes than them

I'm not sure they're organized enough to be a cult. A few spaces on Reddit and the dark web aren't really enough to classify it that way. We know by now that 95% of the things they say are bullshit anyway (the other 5% being half-truths), so even if they try and lay down hard rules, there's no way to even verify if they're even being followed.

Restrict leisure time and activities

And HOW. They try to be as spiteful to anything even remotely enjoyable so damn hard that I don't think it's a "restriction" anymore - they're borderline anti-fun.

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