https://pixabay.com/photos/man-muscular-back-male-guy-fit-461195/
Edited by Amelia Cantwell and Rishi Chandra
If you frequently use social media, you may be familiar with the term “looksmaxxing.” Popular creators like Braden Peters, better known as Clavicular, and Kareem Shami are among the most well-known looksmaxxing representatives in mainstream media. Analyzing contemporary ideological trends and historical patterns reveals that looksmaxxing poses a real danger to young men and marginalized communities in the United States and beyond. Far-right groups and the Trump administration stand to gain from the rapid proliferation of looksmaxxing ideals into mainstream internet channels. By the time this supposedly harmless digital trend sinks its teeth into American culture, there may be no chance of escaping the “Gigachads.”
As the name implies, “looksmaxxing” emphasizes the “maximization” of physical appearance through basic hygiene practices (i.e., “softmaxxing”), and even dangerous and drastic tactics like “bonesmashing” or cosmetic surgery (i.e., “hardmaxxing”). “Bonesmashing” refers to the misguided notion that repeatedly hitting your jaw with a hard object creates micro-injuries that heal to produce a more prominent jaw or other bone.
Physical traits are heavily scrutinized to determine an individual’s “PSL” score (PUAHate/Sluthate/Lookism - original forums that formed looksmaxxing ideology) or “SMV” (sexual market value), establishing a hierarchy of physical attractiveness. Promises of improved quality of life, job opportunities, and sex appeal all motivate young men to join the movement.
Many internet trends seem to materialize from thin air. However, looksmaxxing emerged long before Clavicular or Kareem Shami appeared in the “incel” community. Incel (“involuntarily celibate”) forums serve as echo chambers for, primarily, young men who are upset by their lack of sexual encounters. Who bears responsibility for this lack of intimacy? Women, of course.
Mental health issues, like depression and anxiety, can lead many to crave a space where they feel seen and heard. Without access to proper mental health resources, the incel community is waiting with open arms to welcome young men struggling with low self-esteem, body dysmorphia, and loneliness. Depression and suicidal ideation is commonly experienced within the incel community.
Let's imagine a young man who is not an incel and has a relatively positive self-image. He casually comes across a TikTok about how his face shape lowers his PSL score and the only way to attract women is to change his bone structure. Unable to fix his bone structure, he wonders whether there are other ways to increase his “appeal.” With one search, like, repost, or comment, social media algorithms keep pushing looksmaxxing content. Anxiety about his appearance, body dysmorphia, and depression quickly consume this young man. With nowhere to turn for help, he finds himself back to where this all began: the incel community.
The feedback loop described above makes looksmaxxing so dangerous for young men. Popular “get ready with me” videos and self-improvement TikToks may seem unrelated to the incel community. Yet striving for an impossible goal ultimately pushes unsuspecting young men to consume dangerous rhetoric and potentially perform violent acts often fantasized within the incel community. This is not just a theory. A recent study out of the University of Melbourne has shown that Gen Z men are increasingly likely to hold misogynistic viewpoints. Holding these beliefs raises the likelihood of a person committing violent crimes against others.
Born out of incel forums, rampant misogyny is core to looksmaxxing rhetoric. The PSL hierarchy places “Chads” and “Stacys” at the top. These two stereotypes formed within incel culture and correlate with white, conventionally attractive men and women. Your average “Stacy” is often portrayed as blonde, curly, and wealthy. “Stacy” only dates “Chad,” of course. Even better, you could be a “Gigachad,” the highest, most perfect, alpha male that everyone strives for.
However, another name appears on this hierarchy: “Becky.” Portrayed as an “average” woman, “Becky” acts as the juxtaposition of “Stacy.” The adoption of these incel stereotypes reduces women to sexual objects within the looksmaxxing community whose only purpose is to serve men. With these stereotypes of women as the scapegoats for their issues, the conditions are set for young men to subscribe to extreme far-right ideology and eventually idolize violence.
To no one's surprise, just as misogyny is, racism is embedded in the various looksmaxxing techniques and beliefs. Looksmaxxing often positions Eurocentric features as the ultimate, idealized standard of male beauty. Ranging from “subhuman” to “normie” to “Gigachad”, the action of ranking individuals based on physical appearances can be historically traced to Social Darwinism and eugenic pseudoscience.
Social Darwinism applies Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to human populations, ranking people’s worth based on socially constructed traits such as race, ability, and socioeconomic status. Eugenics builds off of Social Darwinism, theorizing that humans can be selectively bred to create a “better” human race. Laws and policies, like forced sterilization programs meant to erase marginalized communities, were enacted across the United States. At UVA, eugenics-related research and education allowed for scientific racism to weave itself into medical research, state laws, and the overall fabric of American society.
Partially inspired by the United States, these two schools of thought played a major role in the rise of Nazism and eventually, the Holocaust. After years of proliferation of dehumanizing propaganda that ranked the Aryan race higher than everyone else, 6 million Jewish people and millions of others were systematically killed between 1941 and 1945. By ranking individuals based on physical appearance, practices in the looksmaxxing community hauntingly echo those employed by the Nazis.
Looksmaxxing’s connection to contemporary national politics is obvious: as incel ideology pervades mainstream media, far-right ideology anchors itself in the minds of young voters. Young men, ages 18-29, favored Trump over Harris by +2 points in the 2024 presidential election. While support for Trump among young men has fallen since the election, conservatives can utilize these communities to rally support for their agenda, especially when it comes to immigration policy and women’s reproductive rights.
An immigration crackdown has been a top priority for the Trump administration. Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to increase deportations of illegal immigrants. However, not just illegal immigrants have been targeted. ICE agents have violently attacked immigrants and killed United States citizens throughout this “immigration crackdown.” The Trump administration and DHS scored a win after the Supreme Court, through a shadow docket, ruled that race can justify ICE questioning. This opens up the door for widespread racial profiling and false arrests.
With racism embedded in the fabric of incel ideology, racist policies and racially motivated violence, instances like those illustrated above are more likely to be tolerated. As the incel community grows as a result of looksmaxxing, support for racist policies by the Trump administration may grow with it.
Women’s reproductive rights have also been attacked by the Trump administration. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has been a triumph and honor for Trump: Over the years, Trump has made a scarily long list of statements belittling and disrespecting women. Restricting women’s rights, discriminating against women, and disdaining women are at the very core of incel ideology. With Trump’s personal behavior and professional actions as president, it is obvious that incel culture and this administration are ideologically similar.
Some may argue that the connection between looksmaxxing, far-right extremism, and Naziism is far-fetched. Basic hygiene tips may be just that: people on the internet trying to help each other out and feel more confident in their skin. However, the subtlety of looksmaxxing allows it to remain unsuspecting to the untrained eye. Similarly, dictators use propaganda to slowly shape public opinion and diffuse dissent until their agendas can be easily fully realized. If done properly, propaganda hides in plain sight. By preying on the vulnerable, the insecure, and the impressionable, the looksmaxxing community’s connection to the Trump administration allows far-right, racist, misogynistic, and inhumane policies to be enacted with the applause of young men across the country.
Combatting looksmaxxing, incel culture, and far-right extremism should not be a partisan issue. Knowing these spaces create violent political extremists that commit atrocious acts against fellow human beings should be enough to convince members of all political parties to act.
It is imperative that mental health resources are expanded nationwide to address the mental health issues that lead young men to adopt incel beliefs and potentially related far-right extremist ideology. Isolation and mental health struggles can be fought with community and emotional support. By addressing incel culture at the root, we can begin to loosen the ideology’s grip on young men around the world.
Addressing the House of Commons and building off of scholar George Santayana’s work, Winston Churchill said that if we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it. Well, here we are. What may seem like a harmless online trend can, in reality, function as an authoritarian’s propaganda. Accessible mental health programs will act as the frontline defense in the battle against the Gigachads that are attempting to repeat an awful history of division, terror, and brutality. We cannot let them win.