The Big Story How does Canada tackle the incel crisis?
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Dec 4, 2025 Dr. Cecile Rousseau, a Psychiatry professor at McGill University, dives deep into the troubling rise of incel culture and its roots in online misogyny. She discusses the paradox of a regressing tolerance for gender-based violence since the landmark 1989 Polytechnique tragedy. Rousseau highlights how the internet accelerates identity crises among isolated young men and the urgent need for comprehensive strategies involving parents, educators, and policy-makers to prevent violence. She also explores the potential role of AI in shaping safer online environments.
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Internet As Accelerator, Not Sole Cause
- The internet acted as an accelerator for rising misogyny but is not necessarily the original cause.
- Rising social inequalities and identity disruption combine with online spaces to fuel radicalizing narratives for men.
Powerful Figures Fill Identity Voids
- Shattered economic and social identities make messages of certainty and dominance attractive to vulnerable men.
- Figures like Andrew Tate provide a model of power that resonates where men feel identity and economic precarity.
Marc Lépine Reclaimed By Incel Narratives
- Marc Lépine was retrospectively claimed by incel communities as an ideological forebear.
- Rousseau contrasts incels (isolated losers) with alpha figures like Andrew Tate who occupy different roles in masculinist movements.