Social Media and Incel Ideologies (In Regards to Male Beauty Standards)

      Social Media and Incel Ideologies (In Regards to Male Beauty Standards)…

Christian Bale playing as Patrick Bateman from American Psycho

    There are so many sides to the internet from more well known social medias such as facebook and instagram to more obscure parts as well. The internet started with online forums and they are still alive and well, taking reddit as an example, but of course it’s more monitored than a lot of other popular forum websites such as “4chan” which is a popular forum website for more niche interests and its not monitored and a main factor to the website is that users do not make accounts and instead just post from anonymous, when making a forum it only stays up for 24 hours before going away. Due to the app not following app store regulations it's available only on browsers unlike reddit. 4chan tends to have some overlap with tiktok, not that i’m saying that the userbase is the exact same but that the platforms both are places where niche interests are able to flourish, not mentioning both places have a great importance on looks. These two factors in mind a lot of the same content has a home on these platforms, which is how ideologies are easily developed and stay current. To start let’s define “Looksmaxxing” it is generally just a term used to describe an attempt to fit into the beauty standard, losing weight/gaining muscle, hair treatments/cuts, buying new clothing, eating non-soy based foods(due to the misconception that soy is making men more feminine). On TikTok the idea of looksmaxxing had been a trend within the last 2 or so years, and it gained popularity and a great push from when the movie American Psycho starring Christian Bale, started trending. Christian Bale’s character, Patrick Bateman had become a face to project this idea onto since he is a conventionally attractive man who doesn’t particularly care about anything besides himself, while in the film has nothing to do with this concept it’s easy to take things like that without context and to place another meaning onto it.

Looksmaxxing has been a trend for about a decade at this point, originating on incel forums like 4chan, as well as having a great impact on looksmaxxing . Com (go figure). Incel's, also known as “involuntary celibates”, are well known for their nazi rhetoric, racism, and sexism. Incels tend to blame women and feminism for their own inability to find a partner. Incels tend to blame their inability to find a woman due to “biological determinism”. Which plays a part in the concept of looksmaxxing because in the concept of biological determinism incels claim that women's preference for “chads” is innate and unchangeable. Biological determinism is the belief that physical looks and mental health is determined at conception, which goes hand in hand with eugenics, the idea you can “breed the bad out”. This idea is pushed by social media by people posting people they think are unattractive with the tag “it’s over”. The term “Chad” is basically the ideal man, used in a way to describe certain men as “the standard” and are typically defined as “genetically superior”. Chads are idealized and are the go to standard for peak masculinity. Male beauty standards are encapsulated within the typical “Chad” concept social media has perpetuated. An above-average height, strong jaw, a good nose, a full hairline. Biological determinism is big within the incel community because once they start to believe they had no hope since conception resent builds for their parents and their peers. They believe “Chads” won and are the ones meant to continue the population, playing into sexist ideas, eugenics, and a toxic beauty standard.

How does this play into our class? This class of media and society, of course involves social media and the effects it has on the general population, even if it’s not the main focus. Social media affects beauty standards, and the spread of information. One of the main ideas of this class is to examine how media impacts our culture. It’s clear that beauty standards affect the general population heavily, encouraging products, mindsets, and even modifying your body. I chose this topic because I know how beauty standards affect women, due to being a woman myself but found myself wanting to know more in depth about how young American men deal with their own set of beauty standards. This topic primarily targets younger men under 30, typically American but it’s not exclusive. I mentioned previously how incels tend to treat women due to them feeling inferior, so in a way male beauty standards still affect the way women are treated as a direct consequence of the standard. 

In conclusion, beauty standards are a rough subject for everyone. As a result of the harsh landscape called beauty standards it’s created a lot of hate from a self identifying community known as incels on social media. They are people who are pro-eugenics, antisemitic, racist, and sexist forming a sad community as a result of all the self hatred which isn’t disputed by anyone so it becomes a cycle of hateful rhetoric and self pity. 

Sources/viewed links

https://forum.looksmaxxing.com/threads/its-over-for-all-you-jews.100863/

    Allen, Garland Edward. "biological determinism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Sep. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/biological-determinism. Accessed 1 December 2025.

   "Chad Meaning & Origin." Dictionary.com, 18 Nov. 2020, www.dictionary.com/e/slang/chad/.

    Sousbois, Ozan. (2025). Incels, Looksmaxxing, and the Surgical Design of the ‘Chad’-vertised Body. Body and Society. 10.1177/1357034X251363787.