Why Incels' Mathematical Theories of Attractiveness Are Just Wrong

[View on the web]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Features [Incels’ Obsession With Looks Is Based on Fake Math]( [Incel Math]( It isn’t news that [incels]( are incredibly fixated on appearances. The online subculture’s forums, made up of men who describe themselves as involuntarily celibate, are flooded with [judgments on women’s looks]( and laments that none of the attractive ones will sleep with them. But they are also deeply, ruthlessly critical of their own bodies. And a lot of that has to do with, as one statistician tells Racked, a flawed understanding of math. A HuffPost piece published this week explored the [concept of “looksmaxing,”]( a phrase also common on bodybuilding and pickup artist forums. Looksmaxing is exactly what it sounds like: maximizing your looks by using strategies that range from the banal (diet and exercise) to the truly dystopian (penis stretching, skull implants, wrist enlargements). Doing these things, incels think, will increase their ability to attract women, whom they characterize as “lookist,” along with society as a whole. Because the world is so shallow, they believe, any obstacle they have faced while finding a partner comes down to the genetic and social lottery that determines a person’s looks, money, and status. (Like lots of incel terminology, these three things have their own abbreviation: LMS.) In the manosphere — the many-tentacled online space made up of forums related to inceldom, pickup tactics, [redpilling](, men’s rights, and, often, bodybuilding — this is simply logical thinking; the only reason you don’t agree with them is because you’ve been brainwashed by society into naively believing that a person’s kindness or quick wit or goofy sense of humor matters in any real way. (They [“prove” it](worstonlinedater/tinder-experiments-ii-guys-unless-you-are-really-hot-you-are-probably-better-off-not-wasting-your-2ddf370a6e9a) by posing as an attractive guy on Tinder and [seeing what they can get away with](.) The belief is even embedded in the terms for subcategories of incels: heightcels (too short to get laid), baldcels (too bald), framecels (too small), gingercel (too redheaded), ethnicel (too ethnic-looking), skullcels (bad facial structure), and wristcel (wrists under 6.5 inches). [Read the rest of the story here>>]( Ad from our sponsor News [Beyoncé’s Attention-grabbing Vogue Cover, Explained]( [Beyonce]( Vogue has unveiled its [September 2018 issue](, and its cover star is Beyoncé Knowles, looking dreamy and utterly radiant in a series of pictures by the [23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell](. As with all things Beyoncé, people on social media are gushing about the images, which were taken at an estate in the English countryside. The September issue of Vogue always gets a lot of attention because it’s the biggest of the year, loaded with ad pages and celebrity bait. (There’s an entire [2009 documentary]( dedicated to the making of it.) This year’s edition became the subject of an unusual amount of interest, however, after a[Huffington Post article]( leaked details about it in late July. Beyoncé would appear on the cover, the report said, but in an unprecedented (and shocking) move, [Vogue’s notoriously exacting editor-in-chief Anna Wintour]( had apparently given the singer total control over the photography and associated article. This information, some of which was confirmed on Monday when Vogue released portions of [the issue](, caught and held people’s attention for a few reasons. It’s a conversation about power, Vogue’s history with racial diversity, and Wintour’s retirement plans. Now that Vogue has unveiled its September issue, we can answer some of our own questions about it. [Read the rest of the story here>>]( Did a friend forward you this email? [Sign up for the Racked email newsletter](. [MORE GOOD STUFF TO READ TODAY](#) - [K]([im Said the Meanest Thing You Can Say to a Kardashian]( - [Why Gyms Should Be Worried]( - [Vogue’s September issue is legendary. Here’s how Beyoncé made it her own.]( Ad from our sponsor From the Archives A selection from the editors at Racked [lady in a bra on a bed]( [Why Are There So Many Bra Ads on Instagram, Anyway?]( We looked into why women are inundated with them — and why we can't opt out. [Read More]( [woman in a straw hat that says "greetings from"]( [An Oral History of the World’s Most Instagrammable Straw Hat]( When you’re at the beach, do you really need to tell people you’re “Out of Office?” [Read More]( Ad from our sponsor [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving emails from Racked. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved.