A BBC documentary on incels – spotlighting men who feel rejected by women and seek revenge – featuring University digital culture expert Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, attracted widespread media coverage when it aired on 14 July.
The documentary, entitled Inside The Secret World of Incels, exposed the world of the incel community, an online subculture linked to multiple mass murders and hate crimes against women.
Dr Regehr, of the School of Arts, provided expert comment for the BBC Three documentary, which drew on her research. The documentary makers also filmed a seminar at Kent and featured footage of the Canterbury campus.
Dr Regehr, who describes her research as ‘sitting at a convergence of media, culture and gender studies’, was also quoted in a number of newspaper features on the documentary, including those in the Daily Telegraph and The National.
Incels is a portmanteau of ‘involuntary celibates’, predominantly male members of an online subculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one.