Shy Boys: IRLI recently came across the short documentary “Shy Boys: IRL” which chronicles the lifestyle of self-professed “love shy” and “incel” (involuntarily celibate) men. Love-shy.com defines these conditions as:
An extreme difficulty obtaining romantic partners, to the point of not being able to obtain any at all
Extreme anxiety, awkwardness, and difficulty relating to romantic courtship situations, like asking someone out
Generalized social anxiety that inhibits your potential and limits your ability to thrive
Lack of friends, or a small number of close friends, and a difficulty in forming friendships with people
A lack of interest in forming friendships, and social interactions, with the only real desire being that of obtaining a partner
A feeling of being “left out” and alienated from society, and people in general
The film is a must see and is really an excellent portrait of the fundamental failures of western and particularly American society. Within we observe a group of men who are unable to function in the social space and are thus handicap in the other domains of human behavior. The film depicts the essential aftermath of a generation of men raised without fathers and socialized in a culture which shuns virtue, strength and honor, all the while preaching a new enlightenment based around effeminate norms. A question which persistently preoccupied my thoughts while watching this film was: how could such dysfunctional individuals exist? In other words: what forces contributed to the product of these men?