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mahatmakanejeeves

(70,031 posts)
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 07:34 AM Monday

Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool's Errand

Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool’s Errand

Boys these days are under the impression that they need an extreme makeover to get the girl. They couldn’t be more wrong.

By Joel Stein
April 5, 2026 12:00 pm ET


A Vitruvian Man figure surrounded by various items related to fitness, diet, and grooming.
Nick Little for WSJ

When I was a teenager, I was woefully ignorant of my facial width-to-height ratio. Today many boys measure the space between their eyes and the angle from their chin to their neck, rating themselves from Chad to midtier normie. They are running a spreadsheet of stats on their own looks, following the theory that romance works the exact same way as fantasy-league football.

This part of the manosphere, called looksmaxxing, has even spread to my 16-year-old son’s liberal, private Los Angeles high school. Their hero is Clavicular, the 20-year-old looksmaxxing live streamer with nearly one million Instagram followers, who pushes extreme beauty products—methamphetamines, steroids, and a hammer to break your jaw bone so it regrows stronger—and who was recently arrested in Florida on a battery charge.

{paywall}

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Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool's Errand (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Monday OP
The cray cray just grows and grows and grows...May Dog help us all... wcmagumba Monday #1
The trDUMPification of young American males. magicarpet Monday #2
"Even" to a liberal private LA high school? lol you don't say WhiskeyGrinder Monday #3
"Liberals" sending their kids to private high school sounds like an oxymoron to me. Wonder Why Monday #9
Oh Dems send kids to private school all the time. My comment was aimed at the idea that any kind of elite private WhiskeyGrinder Monday #10
I agree. It just bothers me that we profess to support public schools except for our kids. Wonder Why Monday #12
Hell, this shit usually starts at those places Sympthsical Monday #18
You mean hitting my jaw with a hammer isn't a good life plan? EdmondDantes_ Monday #4
;-{).... Goonch Monday #5
Looks pretty average to me newdeal2 Monday #7
Sometimes, Darwin throws a pop quiz. Not everyone passes. OC375 Monday #6
LOL leftstreet Monday #17
They do it for other dudes. Frankly I hope they damage themselves permanently. nt 617Blue Monday #8
Obviously, Mrs Max only agreed to share her life with me maxrandb Monday #11
Broscience Boo1 Monday #13
We could save a lot of young men if we just issued every 14-18 year old on the planet Quadrophenia! maxrandb Monday #14
Of course not. They need money. peppertree Monday #15
Whatever happened to "it's what's on the inside that counts?" MIButterfly Monday #16
It's a big trend with the incel crowd. MineralMan Monday #19

Wonder Why

(7,082 posts)
9. "Liberals" sending their kids to private high school sounds like an oxymoron to me.
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 08:34 AM
Monday

When ours were in school, we could afford to send them to private school to give them a better chance but we chose the local poor, nearly all Hispanic NM rural public school system so they could learn tolerance and reality. They turned out quite well.

But everyone is entitled to do what they feel best,

WhiskeyGrinder

(26,983 posts)
10. Oh Dems send kids to private school all the time. My comment was aimed at the idea that any kind of elite private
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 08:40 AM
Monday

institution would be immune to this garbage.

Sympthsical

(10,978 posts)
18. Hell, this shit usually starts at those places
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 10:48 AM
Monday

A lot of these would-be influencers come from money. When you don't have to worry about getting a job or education, hanging out all day on social media is easy.

Clavicular came out of a prep school.

newdeal2

(5,464 posts)
7. Looks pretty average to me
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 07:57 AM
Monday

You wouldn’t be able to pick him out of a crowd at a college bar.

maxrandb

(17,444 posts)
11. Obviously, Mrs Max only agreed to share her life with me
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 08:40 AM
Monday

because of my "rugged, Hollywood good looks", right honey?!.....right?....honey! hey, where are you going?...honey????

maxrandb

(17,444 posts)
14. We could save a lot of young men if we just issued every 14-18 year old on the planet Quadrophenia!
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 09:59 AM
Monday

"Here by the sea and sand
Nothing ever goes as planned
I just couldn't face going home
It was such a drag on my own

They finally threw me out
My mum got drunk on stout
My dad couldn't stand on two feet
As he lectured about morality
Now I guess the family's complete
With me hanging round on the streets
Or here on the beach

The girl I love is a perfect dresser
Wears every fashion, gets it to the tee
Heavens above, I got to match her
She knows just how she wants her man to be Leave it to me

My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked
Maybe a touch of seersucker and an open neck

I ride a GS scooter with my hair cut neat
I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet

I see her dance across the ballroom
UV light making stars shine of her smile
I am the face, she has to know me
I'm dressed up better than anyone within a mile Oh yeah

So how come the other tickets look much better Without a penny to spend, they dress to the letter

How come the girls come on oh so cool
Yet when you meet 'em, everyone's a fool?


Come sleep on the beach
Keep within my reach
I just wanna die with you here
I'm feeling so high with you here

I'm wet and I'm cold
But thank God I ain't old
Why didn't I say what I mean?
I should have split home at fifteen
There's a story that the grass is so green
What did I see?
Where have I been?

Nothing is planned by the sea and the sand

I'm the face if you want it, babe
I'm the face if you want it
I'm the face if you want it, babe
I'm the face if you want it"

?si=aOGduRorXL_2Xi_b

peppertree

(23,377 posts)
15. Of course not. They need money.
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 10:37 AM
Monday

And frankly - I don't blame women.

It's a cruel world - and getting worse all the time.

MIButterfly

(2,829 posts)
16. Whatever happened to "it's what's on the inside that counts?"
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 10:43 AM
Monday

What about cultivating the qualities that make one a decent human being, such as kindness, compassion, patience, tolerance, etc.? How about developing a good sense of humor? Looks aren't everything. What good is being good-looking if you don't have anything else? What is a girl supposed to do, just sit there and look at you all day? I'd rather have someone nice that I can talk to and share interests with. Besides, looks fade, no matter how much plastic surgery one has. And then what?

Our culture worships looks way too much. I just don't think this "looksmaxxing" is a good use of one's time. But I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, so what do I know? Young people are going to do whatever they're going to do regardless of what I have to say about it.

MineralMan

(151,345 posts)
19. It's a big trend with the incel crowd.
Mon Apr 6, 2026, 10:50 AM
Monday

Incels miss one very important thing. Women care more about how you behave than how you look. And your behavior is much easier to change than your appearance.

So, if you're an incel, stop focusing on how much you hate women and try to figure out why you hate yourself. Then be a nice person. It will work wonders for you.

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