Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but rather in the eyes of 500 sl*ts who hold all society’s power and privileges. At least, according to incels. In this episode, Hannah and Maia revisit the loneliest, angriest corners of the internet to explore “looksmaxxing” - a hot wheels-style rebrand of the “glow up”, replete with internet jargon and pseudo-science and a brand new name to make it palatable for men. Birthed deep in the forums of PUAhate, Sluthate, and 4chan, looksmaxxing began as a way for incels to optimize their looks and ascend their social status. But now, it’s everywhere. The looksmax subreddit is rife with people of all genders commenting stuff like “you’re beautiful love <3” and naturally occurring TikTok Chads making a living as “looksmaxxing influencers”. What the hell happened here, and why? Tangents include: Maia seeing Addison Rae on the street, and Hannah and Maia being really annoying during DND.
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Intro and outro song by our talented friend Ian Mills:
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SOURCES:
Joseph Bernstein, “Young Men Seek Answers to an Age-Old Question: How to Be Hot,” The New York Times (2023).
Megan Day, “How Manosphere Content Placates Disenfranchised Men,” Jacobin (2025).
Riley Farrell, Inside looksmaxxing, the extreme cosmetic social media trend,” BBC (2024).
Sarah Held, “incels://cheeks/jaws: On fragile masculinity, fatal body ideals, homophobic homoeroticism and National Socialist aesthetics revisited,” Fashion, Style & Popular Culture, vol. 10 (2022).
Alice Hines, “How Many Bones Would You Break to Get Laid? “Incels” are going under the knife to reshape their faces, and their dating prospects,” The Cut (2019).
John Mercer and Clarissa Smith, “Aspirational Bodies: Health, Fitness and the Body Project,” in Sexualised Masculinity: Men’s Bodies in 21st Century Media Culture, Taylor & Francis (2025).
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