I was scrolling through reels the other day when I saw a post about influencer Clavicularâs college tour. I was then unfortunately reminded who Clav is, and I went down a rabbit hole about looksmaxxing. A popular practice led by Clavicular, in which people essentially go through extreme procedures and routines in order to become better-looking. I know he and the practice have all been turned into a joke, yet the community is still thriving. However comedic these influencers and their followers may seem, it is still a jarring and horrific display of male online community.Â
The Incel
The internet pioneers of social rejection and misogyny, the incel community is what comes to mind when I picture chronically online males. An insult that is worn proudly by its members and used repeatedly as armor in their defense of misogyny. To them, it is womenâs fault they are being rejected, not their own lack of desirable qualities. While this may seem to them like a coping mechanism, it is overall just a pathetic excuse to continue to wallow in self-deprecation.Â
Looksmaxxers
Whereas incels weaponize their own lack of attractiveness, the looksmaxxing community uses their newfound good looks as a reason to be misogynistic. They confine themselves to numbers, breaking bones and injecting themselves with chemicals for a better canthal tilt. It’s extremely disturbing- the levels of self-harm these men are putting themselves through in order to âascendâ. It seems people will do just about anything to make themselves better looking, even if it means obsessively altering everything about themselves. Yet, the looksmaxxing community doesn’t stop at simply attempting to better their appearances. Of course, like most male-fronted movements, the podcast epidemic, there is a huge amount of misogyny. Even now, Clavicularâs ex-girlfriend is suing for battery over his aggressive attempts to turn her into his experimental protĂ©gĂ© at just sixteen. These people believe that a person’s worth is solely based on their attractiveness, and they quickly attack and discard any outliers. I don’t think you can find a single popular video of a woman without looksmaxxers flooding her comment section with ratings and picking apart her every feature.Â
Accountability
I think what’s the most startling part about it all is that people are pretty much okay with it. Why else would Clavicular be able to travel to different college campuses, rating nineteen-year-olds based on their f*ckability? Men are not being held accountable for being terrible people anymore! I’m sorry, but do people not care about disrespect anymore? I’ve yet to see a video of Clavicular being jumped, yet I’ve seen a million of him looking people in the eyes and listing every undesirable trait on their body. Stop giving these people a platform, and bring back humiliating terrible people, not inviting them to your college campus.Â