Women who identify as involuntary celibates have high levels of sexual anxiety and depression, a new study suggests. The term "incel"—for involuntarily celibate—is most often associated with men, but some women describe a similar experience in online forums, where they use their own codes to express their distress. Female incels, or "femcels," feel romantically doomed by society's perception of their bodies.
Université de Montréal criminology professor Alexandra Zidenberg and Brandon Sparks, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at the University of New Brunswick, have rigorously documented the femcel phenomenon for the first time.
Their study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, is the first to collect data directly from involuntarily single women instead of simply reviewing online forums.
119 women studied
Zidenberg and Sparks administered the Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire, which assesses 12 dimensions of sexual well-being, to 61 women who self-identified as femcels or as "forever alone" and 58 single women who did not identify as femcels.
The findings paint a picture of interconnected layers of intense distress among femcels.
The most pronounced difference between the two groups was on the sexual depression dimension—a feeling of sadness or discouragement about romance and sex. Femcels scored an average of 19.2 on a scale of 25, compared with 11.2 for the control group.
"(Femcels) think about romantic relationships, but not happily," Zidenberg explained. "There's more depression, anxiety and negative feelings."
The study found significant differences in several other dimensions. Femcels had higher levels of sexual anxiety (17.0 versus 11.8), for instance, largely driven by fear of abuse from potential partners—a fear that, according to the researchers, stems more from apprehension than actual experience.
"In the forums, they talk about sexual violence as a possibility, rarely as a personal experience," Zidenberg explained. "It's a fear."
The 'pink pill' concept
Central to femcel identity is a concept called the "pink pill": the belief that a social hierarchy based on physical appearance—also known as "lookism"—condemns some women to romantic failure, regardless of their actions.
This belief is reflected in the data: In the second-largest gap found by the study, femcels scored 14.4 out of 25 on the external sexual control scale, compared with 9.6 for the control group.
"In their belief system, if you aren't one of the beautiful people, there's nothing you can do," Zidenberg said. "You can't change things."
Paradoxically, this sense of powerlessness is accompanied by intense rumination: Femcels scored 13.1 on the sexual preoccupation scale, compared with 7.8 for non-femcels.
Femcels think about sexuality much more often but see no solution. That tension exacerbates their fear of sexual relationships (18.4 compared with 14.8). Wanting a relationship while fearing it is the contradiction at the core of the femcel experience.
Male incels act out
Male incels externalize their frustration toward women. Their misogynistic rhetoric and, in some cases, violent acts have been widely documented. By contrast, femcels turn the violence inward against themselves.
The study notes that no radicalization leading toward violence has been documented in femcel spaces. "However, research on these forums has identified suicidal thoughts linked to the lack of romantic relationships," Zidenberg said. "This is a clinical red flag that must be taken seriously."
Mental health professionals need to be sensitive to the femcel mindset, Sparks added. "Most of them feel misunderstood and have difficulty trusting others. You have to validate their experience before you can start working on negative thought patterns. It's a long-term process."
"Cognitive-behavioral approaches can be appropriate, particularly for working on beliefs related to external control and self-critical attitudes toward their own appearance," Zidenberg concluded.
She plans to continue her research with qualitative interviews to hear the voices of femcels and explore their fears and journeys.
Publication details
Brandon Sparks et al, The sexual well-being of female involuntary celibates (Femcels): A comparative survey study, Personality and Individual Differences (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2026.113848
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Citation: Femcels feel doomed to loneliness (2026, July 14) retrieved 14 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-femcels-doomed-loneliness.html
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