Invisible Girl: A Novel

Invisible Girl explores the growing issues surrounding incel culture and their dedicated online forums and social media presence. Incels, or “involuntary celibates,” whom the Anti-Defamation League describes as “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success”—an ideology “rooted in the belief that women have too much power in the sexual/romantic sphere and ruin incels’ lives by rejecting them” (“Incels (Involuntary celibates).” ADL.org, 2020). Incel forums reflect deeply misogynistic, racist, and homophobic language and ideas, centering on violence, resentment, hatred, and the extreme objectification of women. Incel forums have also been utilized as a means to incite young men to commit violent acts, such as rape, physical assault and mass shootings. Incel culture deliberately reifies its community’s sense of victimhood in society and encourages them to act out violently against women and political agendas they believe the government has instated to subdue them. In Invisible Girl, Lisa Jewell demonstrates the threat of incel culture in society, and the attraction of it, particularly for white men who feel isolated and lonely. Through Owen’s interaction with Bryn, Jewell highlights the dark underbelly of incel culture on social media, connecting people with violent intentions, such as Bryn, with more vulnerable individuals like Owen. Bryn preys on Owen’s isolation and anger, hoping to convince him to join the incel cause against society. Although Owen recognizes the danger of Bryn’s beliefs, the interaction emphasizes how incel forums prey on the insecurities of isolated men to recruit them, which reveals the threat of incel culture, particularly through social media, by providing a sense of community, connection, and shared (albeit deeply problematic) purpose.