A new study has shed light on the women who feel they are destined to never find love.
Researchers at the University of Montreal interviewed 61 women who identified as femcels, short for ‘female involuntary celibates’.
This online community of women are united by their frustrations over their shared inability to form romantic and sexual relationships.
As part of the study they were asked questions to determine their attitudes towards sex, relationships and wellbeing.
Analysis revealed key characteristics in this group, who tend to describe themselves as ‘forever alone’.
The researchers found the typical femcel was a deeply lonely woman with low self-esteem, high social anxiety, depressive symptoms, limited social support and a bleak view of her romantic future.
‘Femcels think about romantic relationships, but not happily,’ Professor Alexandra Zindenberg, one of the study authors, said.
‘There’s more depression, anxiety and negative feelings.’
Femcels are an online community of women united by their frustrations over their shared inability to form romantic and sexual relationships (stock image)
Until now, research has primarily focused on men who are involuntarily celibate, also known as incels.
These men frequently attribute their lack of romantic success to perceived physical unattractiveness and the unfairness of society.
Many hold a deep-seated resentment and are openly hostile, blaming women for their exclusion.
The new study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, showed that femcels also feel romantically doomed by society’s perception of their bodies.
The researchers said their findings ‘paint a picture of interconnected layers of intense distress’ among these women.
The most pronounced difference between femcels and other single women was sexual depression – 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.
Analysis showed femcels also had higher levels of sexual anxiety, largely driven by fear of abuse from potential partners. The researchers said this stems more from apprehension than actual experience.
A central component of femcel identity is the belief that a social hierarchy based on physical appearance condemns some women to romantic failure, regardless of their actions.
‘In their belief system, if you aren’t one of the beautiful people, there’s nothing you can do,’ Professor Zindenberg said.
However, this sense of powerlessness is accompanied by intense rumination, with femcels scoring much higher on the sexual preoccupation scale.
‘Femcels think about sexuality much more often but see no solution,’ the researchers said.
‘That tension exacerbates their fear of sexual relationships.’
The scientists pointed out that while male incels externalise their frustration toward women, femcels tend to turn the violence inward against themselves.
The study notes that no radicalization leading toward violence has been documented in femcels.
‘However, research on these forums has identified suicidal thoughts linked to the lack of romantic relationships,’ Professor Zindenberg said.
‘This is a clinical red flag that must be taken seriously.’
