David Boles: Human Meme

To understand the Incel, we must first think back to its origins, which are surprisingly less ominous than what the term has come to represent today. The term "Incel" was actually coined in the late 1990s by a Canadian woman known as Alana. She created a website to discuss her sexual inactivity as a way of creating a shared space for people like her – those who, for various reasons, weren't having sex, but desired to. The term was not meant to be derogatory, but rather a descriptor of a shared life experience.