Some involuntarily-celibate men are angry at uppity women.
You know what I mean: women who are too “discriminating” as to their dating patterns.
This is a patriarchal society!
Why are women “so fussy” about what men earn per year, or whether they can talk comfortably with the second sex?
These men seem confused about the type of love they’re looking for.
On one hand, they believe in traditional gender roles, in which women are just commodities.
Yet, many INCELs are unable to “handle” the breadwinner role.
Contrarily, “CELs” also seem to yearn for some form of “romantic love.”
What these men have forgotten is that it isn’t the male sex that’s in charge.
It’s the wealthy men.
Without wealth, you’re at the bottom at the totem pole, along with women and non-white men.
In any transactional relationship, you must provide something in exchange.
Within that world view—if a man can’t provide security to a woman—at least she needs a handsome physique, or easy conversation.
There are categories of INCELs.
One category is the inept man who doesn’t know how to flirt, but who’s essentially non-violent.
An example from the past is the Festrunk Brothers on SNL.
The Slovakian brothers thought women with “big American breasts” will be attracted by their garish tight pants and polyester shirts.
Sometimes, these men aren’t stupid.
Although INCELs believe they’re entitled to female attention, they’re just not skilled at obtaining it.
Such men are usually more annoying than harmful, (unless, of course, they’re your manager).
One can think of the Me-Too movement as the rebellion of women against those INCELs (often married INCELs*) who gain money and power.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
In a world in which women are second class citizens, powerful men believe they are owed sexual favors by underlings.
Just as other INCELs, they can’t pick up the signals, and think resistant women are just being “coy.”
Popular culture has created humorous stories of “nerds” seeking love.
There’s Weird Science, in which the teenagers don’t want sex; they just want to watch their “perfect woman” doing aerobics.
There’s also The Big Bang Theory, (2007-2019) in which scientists Dr. Leonard Hofstader (Johnny Galecki), Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), and Dr. Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz) vie to win the attention of attractive girlfriends, despite their over-educated geekiness.
Another category of INCEL is the male creature who becomes very angry after rejection (sexual need spilling out into violence).
One recent example was Joel Cauchi, who killed six people, and injured twelve—all female, except a male security guard—in an Australian mall.
Cauchi was a 40-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic, who went off his meds, and had difficulty making female friends.
There have been many such terrorists—men who merge fear of women with hatred for an unjust society: Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh, to name two.
Ted Kaczynski, a brilliant scholar with a PhD in mathematics, was known as the “Unabomber.”
He used mail bombs to murder three people, and maim 23 others, between 1978-1995.
His targets were a computer scientist, an ad executive, an airline president, and a timber industry lobbyist: all males who he associated with his theories of “anti-nature technology.”
Kaczynski sought a woman to join him in his isolated cabin (until he landed in prison).
However, he likely died a virgin.
In 1995, veteran Timothy McVeigh bombed an Oklahoma City Federal building killing 149 adults, 19 children, and injuring 680 others.
(McVeigh was tried and executed for this crime.)
According to Wikipedia, McVeigh was very shy around women and his romantic dreams were frustrated by repeated rejections.
He felt victimized by the U.S. federal government, as well as corporate elites, convinced that these forces were plotting to take away his freedom.
In the 1971 version of Willard, Willard Stiles’ subconscious anger isn’t directed so much at women as it is toward his overbearing mother Henrietta (the great Elsa Lanchester), and his grasping boss Al Martin (the equally great Ernest Borgnine).
Al Martin stole the Stiles fortune, and also wants to steal the Stiles mansion.
As the film begins, Henrietta Stiles is controlling her son’s life from her sick bed.
Willard uses his pet rats to gain some autonomy, and his newfound sense of confidence does attract a women friend, Joan Simms (Sandra Locke).
However, by the end of Willard, Willard Stiles’ life is still not his own.
He protects Joan from the rats, but succumbs to their attack.
In the 2003 reworking of Willard, Willard Stiles (Crispin Glover), also attracts a girlfriend—Cathryn, played by Laura Elena Harring—after his rat friends give him a new air of confidence.
However, his feminine companion (unlike Joan Simms, in the 1971 Willard film) eventually realizes that he’s in league with the rats.
This Willard winds up in a mental institution cell, but the rats still have their sights on him.
Both films are based on the 1968 novel Ratman’s Notebooks (written by a British native, Stephen Gilbert).
In the first part of the book, the main character says:
No girl would look at me twice. Not unless she was desperate. Not even then. Girls have a great nose for money. They have to have. They’re like cats, prowling round to find the best place to have kittens. When Father was alive, I used to sometimes notice girls running their eyes over me, but it never came to anything. I remember one of them telling me that she thought I would suit her best friend. But most of them didn’t even think I was up to that standard. I don’t know how they knew. Nowadays they don’t even give me a second glance.
By the end of the novel, with the help of the rats, Willard regains his father’s business.
“The girl” snags Willard; they’re redecorating his house, and planning marriage.
By the last pages, chief rat Ben (and the rest of Ben’s rat friends) know that Willard wants to poison them (so he can lead a conventional life with his bride).
By the very last page, rats are gnawing at the attic door, and no one can hear Willard’s yelling.
*One can argue that married INCELs are technically not involuntarily celibate. However, all men can end celibacy simply by hiring a prostitute. An INCEL is someone who resents women for not “behaving properly,” and giving men attention (sexual or romantic attention) no matter their lack of money or charm.
No comments:
Post a Comment