Henry Flynt
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|---|---|
| Name: | Henry Flynt |
| Date of Birth: | 1940 |
| Occupation: | Artist, philosopher |
| Ethnicity: | white |
Henry Flynt is the author of the piece, Blueprint for a Higher Civilization, which mentions his previous involuntary celibacy in the chapter called "Creep".[1] His description of involuntary celibacy was the most detailed of the 20th century and he used the term verbatim. He was heavily involved in the 1960s avant-garde New York-based Fluxus art scene. He coined the term concept art and produced anti-art activism, avant-garde music, and philosophy about the political left. Henry Flynt would briefly also join New York-based band "the Velvet Underground", performing violin in 1966 as a short-term stand in for John Cale. He would later receive guitar lessons from Lou Reed.[2] Flynt was politically far-left and converted to marxism in the mid-60s, he collaborated with artists such as Yoko Ono.
According to Flynt, the incel is:[3]
- "shy, unassertive, and lacks self-confidence."
Henry Flynt was the first individual in modern history to discuss male involuntary celibacy before the advent of the internet, in his 1975 manifesto "Blueprint for a Higher Civilization" which discusses his relation to being perceived as a creep. The manifesto reads as an early progenitor of blackpill ideology and incel philosophy, it can be interpreted as being a proto-blackpill or proto-incel document. Here is an excerpt:
“When Helen Lefkowitz said I was “such a creep” at Interlochen in 1956, her remark epitomized the feeling that females have always had about me. My attempts to understand why females rejected me and to decide what to do about it resulted in years of confusion. In 1961-1962, I tried to develop a theory of the creep problem. This theory took involuntary celibacy as the defining characteristic of the creep. Every society has its image of the ideal young adult, even though the symbols of growing up change from generation to generation. The creep is an involuntary celibate because he fails to develop the surface traits of adulthood–poise and sophistication; and because he is shy, unassertive, and lacks self-confidence in the presence of others . The creep is awkward and has an unstylish appearance. He seems sexless and childish. He is regarded by the ideal adults with condescending scorn, amusement, or pity.”
The feminist creator of the first known incel discussion forum, Alana, did not coin the abbreviated version of the phrase “incel” as has been commonly promulgated in the media. She merely introduced a prior attempt at shortening the phrase, as “invcel,” in 1997. It was pronounced “invacel.” As this sounds the term “imbecile”, she later adopted “incel” at the suggestion of someone in the mailing list she created; this new contraction was also easier to pronounce.