On Twitter, people began to share insights into the phenomenon called ‘incel,’ a little-known term for ‘involuntarily celibate,’ or highly disaffected young men who claim sexual frustration and rejection as their primary mantle. Some individuals with significant expertise used social media to shed light on this underground cyber movement of mostly white/dominant culture men who seek revenge on women (and society writ large) as a way of gaining or reasserting masculine influence and control.

The fact that rigorous research has already been conducted about this global movement, including here in Canada, is oddly reassuring. But it is also points to the level of organization among a tenacious and disparate network of men, vulnerable to radicalization, who are unable to adapt changing gender norms. Consequently, they contribute their lack of status as (young) men to the apparent diminishment of traditional and institutionalized patriarchal power.

In an article published by Vox in 2016, “How the alt-right’s sexism lures men into white supremacy,”  the argument is made that “sexism serves as the alt-right’s gateway drug” into related forms of extremism. It’s a revealing and sobering read, and makes a compelling case for why discrimination and hatred can’t be entirely compartmentalized into discreet boxes of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

The inter-sectionalities, if you will, are ample. And to regard sexism independent of these other phenomena would be a grave error at this juncture in our history. Hence the urgent need for women and men to be part of a larger conversation about misogyny in society more generally.

At last weekend’s national Liberal convention, the Liberal Party offered a workshop on harassment largely designed to equip bystanders, i.e those who may be witness to sexual and other forms of harassment, to intervene. The workshop was delivered by Julie Lalonde who is a well-known and highly credible Ottawa-based feminist advocate with much expertise in the area. Media were banned from the workshop to afford participants some latitude to ask honest questions, and not just be lauded for showing up in the room. But Lalonde’s efforts were derided by a small number of vocal opponents over social media, particularly a prominent male writer, because a controversial Liberal MP accused of harassment had said he would likely show up. Lalonde was left to defend the accusation that she was not providing a safe space for survivors, something that had never been intended as part of the workshop.

Some questioned the party’s “sincerity” in creating a forum for this conversation. Others wondered if the attendance of an alleged perpetrator undermined its goals. A few expressed the view that the workshop was a crass attempt at brand reinforcement, not learning. Few noted that Lalonde had already given a version of this workshop to the federal NDP caucus in 2014.