Is it simply: involuntarily celibate, or does it come with a package?
To me, “incel” has always meant someone who’s simply just celibate against their will, but it feels like the term now also implies a specific worldview or even a subculture. Does identifying as an incel automatically come with those negative beliefs around gender and society, or should those two have separate terms? Has the definition changed?"
You really won’t be able to take the word back, it’s been stained permanently. It’s maybe best not to focus on the lack of sex part and start focusing on yourself. People will notice. Working on yourself is attractive. People who never gave you a thought romantically might suddenly realize you’ve worked to improve yourself and look at you with fresh eyes.
But a new clean term was inspired: https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/20/2022-is-the-year-of-the-femcel-what-you-need-to-know-16308546/
When you think about it, the founder of the moment that got coopted was herself a femcel.