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What's A 'Femcel?' The 'Incel' Slang Term And Its Meaning Explained
Over the years, the slang term incel is something almost everyone online has become familiar with. These "involuntary celibates" are most commonly viewed as men, disheartened by Chads and Stacies globally. However, Femcels also exist online. On websites like 4chan and Reddit, their female counterparts are just as troubled. A "femcel" is the term for a female involuntary celibate and they've existed online since the early internet. But how has the "femcel" evolved into the modern-day version, and where did they come from?
Where Did Femcels Come From?
Although the term "incel" dates back to 1993 from a graduate student at Carleton University, "femcel" didn't emerge as a standalone term until February 2012 from a Blogspot website called femcel.blogspot.com. The website is no longer functioning, but evidence of its existence can be found in tweets dating back to that time period.
However, the first incel-esque group of women dates back farther, to October 22nd, 2004, when a Yahoo! group called "Loveshy women" was enacted. Within the group, shy women, too afraid of male attention, rallied together in support of one another. Although they didn't call themselves femcels, the group served as an early example.
Additionally, in April 2012, a subreddit called /r/ForeverAloneWomen was created. It still functions today, and the moderators were the first of their kind on the platform.
Femcel Usage In Memes
As femcel communities grew on Reddit going into the 2010s, they started to receive backlash from male incel groups who we can refer to as "malecels." These malecels refused to believe that a woman could be involuntarily celibate too. In turn, many early memes that regard femcels are satirical posts from malecels mocking them.
In 2019, a subreddit called /r/trufemcels was created by malecels to mock their communities. One of the primary communities being mocked was /r/FemaleDatingStrategy which many malecels infiltrated. This push-and-pull between the two groups produced multiple memes and stereotypes.
However, as the term aged going into the 2020s, the femcel archetype started to be romanticized rather than despised. This romanticization was perpetuated by both malecels and women in general. The idea of the "4chanite sociopathic edgelord femcel phenotype" emerged among malecels with characteristics like black hair, bangs and glasses. With women and LGBTQ+ creators on Twitter and Instagram, the idea of being a "femcel" found its way into many image macros, paired with other slang like "girlboss" and "gaslight."
Where can I use femcel?
Nowadays, using "femcel" in a meme or tweet is easy-picking. By utilizing its history of incel inflammation, you can subvert the term to represent everything that's funny about being a girl who rots in bed. Niche Internet Micro Celebrities are probably the best at this. Many have already memed the term into obscurity.
The other way to go would be using the glasses-and-bangs archetype. Many memes are now using the grid image of multiple femcels as an exploitable. Redraws and fan art seem to be the way to go in this regard.
How do you use "femcel" in a sentence?
- "She's always in her room, like, why is she such a femcel?"
- "Did you hear about that femcel on the news?"
- "It's giving femcel energy."
For the full history of Femcels, be sure to check out our entry on the slang term here for even more information.