Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool's Errand

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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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[wcmagumba]

1. The cray cray just grows and grows and grows...May Dog help us all...

[magicarpet]

2. The trDUMPification of young American males.

The cosmetic, devoid of reality, presi-DUNCE-y.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. "Even" to a liberal private LA high school? lol you don't say

[Wonder Why]

9. "Liberals" sending their kids to private high school sounds like an oxymoron to me.

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]

10. Oh Dems send kids to private school all the time. My comment was aimed at the idea that any kind of elite private

institution would be immune to this garbage.

[Wonder Why]

12. I agree. It just bothers me that we profess to support public schools except for our kids.

[Sympthsical]

18. Hell, this shit usually starts at those places

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.

[EdmondDantes_]

4. You mean hitting my jaw with a hammer isn't a good life plan?

Anything to avoid therapy.

[Goonch]

5. ;-{)....

[newdeal2]

7. Looks pretty average to me

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

[OC375]

6. Sometimes, Darwin throws a pop quiz. Not everyone passes.

[leftstreet]

17. LOL

[617Blue]

8. They do it for other dudes. Frankly I hope they damage themselves permanently. nt

[maxrandb]

11. Obviously, Mrs Max only agreed to share her life with me

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

[Boo1]

13. Broscience

Has a funny take on it. Language warning

?si=qZByJgwaEFiBJbmO

[maxrandb]

14. We could save a lot of young men if we just issued every 14-18 year old on the planet Quadrophenia!

"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]

15. Of course not. They need money.

And frankly - I don't blame women.

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

[MIButterfly]

16. Whatever happened to "it's what's on the inside that counts?"

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]

19. It's a big trend with the incel crowd.

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.