The incel phenomenon: a psychoanalytic reading from Massimo Recalcati
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/7fzkfd91Keywords:
Psychoanalysis, incel, Massimo Recalcatti, manosphereAbstract
The aim of this paper is to propose a reflection based on some of the categories of Italian psychoanalyst Massimo Recalcati in order to interpret the incel phenomenon. To this end, it begins with a contextualization of the manosphere, which is a space for different male communities united by their criticism of feminism and defense of the patriarchal view. It then goes on to describe incels as one of its offshoots. Next, it discusses monosymptomaticity and mass identification in order to consider the incel phenomenon as a set of symptoms that serve as badges allowing them to unite. From there, he makes some observations about the different types of hatred and how they play out in incel logic, concluding with the categories of the wall and the denial of the call of the Other. In the case of the former, he recovers incel philosophy as an element of the wall they establish, and in the case of the latter, he proposes the decline of the Law as a regulator of enjoyment.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Israel Flores González (Autor/a)

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