Gymcel
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About
"Gymcel" is a portmanteau of the words "gym" and "incel", and it is a commonly used internet slang meant to describe incels who take steroids, go through extreme work out, lifting and bodybuilding processes to overcome their inceldom. In the lookism and looksmaxxing communities, gymcels are often described or depicted as very muscular men who are often of below average height and have unattractive faces.
Origin
The actual origin of the word "gymcel" is unknown. The earliest traceable instance of the word being used and discussed is in a 4chan thread on the /fit/ board from March 8th, 2014 (shown below, left).[1] The earliest and most upvoted definition on Urban Dictionary was made on September 13th, 2014 by user Gymcel (shown below, right).[2]
Spread
The term gained popularity on Reddit around 2017 and 2018, particularly on incel subreddits.[3][4] "Gymcel" eventually spread as a term to other online communities and on different websites. On September 24th, 2019, Reddit user wazzuper25 posted a Virgin vs. Chad version of a gymcel on r/virginvschad,[5] garnering over 95 points in 3 years (shown below, left). wazzuper25's original design is also showcased on meme's official fan wiki.[6] On February 10th, 2022, the screenshot of a 4chan post claiming that Johnny Bravo predicted gymcels was posted on r/greentext[7] by bigbadbrucey97, garnering over 2,700 points in 1 year (shown below, right).
Instagram meme page "gymcels," which routinely makes gym-related memes, made its first post on December 23rd, 2019 and garnered over 136,000 followers in 3 years.[8][9] On March 25th, the page posted a You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain meme using 2019's Joker that addressed "gymps" and gymcels (shown below, left).[10] The post received 455 likes in 3 years. On March 29th, 2023, a captioned post saying that LeanBeefPatty would look like a Chud Gymcel with a buzzed hair cut was posted by Kaner on iFunny, and it received 285 smiles in 5 months (shown below, right).[11]
On September 29th, 2022, YouTuber GZ uploaded a video titled "Are YOU A Gymcel?" explaining his own experiences. The video received over 166,750 views and 12,000 likes in 11 months.[12]
On June 26th, 2023, YouTube channel Fitnico uploaded a video explaining in detail what gymcels are.[13] The video received over 158,000 views and 13,000 likes in 2 months.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] /fit/ – Thread # 25464066
[3] Medium – The Latest Manosphere Subculture Is the Gymcel
[4] Medicina Online – Gymcel che significa, quali sono le sue caratteristiche estetiche e che problemi nasconde?
[5] r/virginvschad – [OC] Introducing Gymcel, an upgraded Incel thats above Incel, but still below Virgin.
[6] Virgin vs Chad Wiki – Gymcel
[7] r/greentext – Anon predicts gymcels
[8] Instagram – first post==
[9] Instagram – gymcels 💔💔==
[10] Instagram – You either die a gymp or live long enough to become a gymcel==
[11] iFunny – How to tell if a womans ugly Simply imagine them with a shaved head. She would genuinely look like a Chud Gymcel if you buzzed her head
[12] YouTube – Are YOU A Gymcel?
[13] YouTube – GYMCELLS: EL OSCURO MUNDO DE LAS RATAS DE GIMNASIO
Top Comments
Geigh Science
Sep 08, 2023 at 03:59PM EDT
Watermelanie
Sep 08, 2023 at 11:15PM EDT