Retardmaxxing
2026-03-12
It's been a good day so far, and for that I'm thankful. I would say that I've been focused on that constant internal dialogue on a deeper level lately. I think about my personal circumstances and the circumstances of the world around me, and I feel as if I'm making slow but meaningful progress in the way of improving my relationship with my environment. Over the last year or two, I've been interested in the retardmaxxing movement. Originally started by Elisha Long, the movement is adjacent to manosphere content but tries to cut through criticisms of it by engaging in a sort of post-ironic sincerity that speaks mostly to young men in the West.
Retardmaxxing is one of many different "maxxing" practices. As a suffix, "maxxing" derives from old pick-up artist and incel forums that espoused the idea of "looksmaxxing," which is the prevalent idea that one can maximize achievement in all areas of life through intense focus and attention on their physical appearance. These practices range from rudimentary self-care to downright harmful ingestion of substances and hormones, or undergoing intense plastic surgery. To the looksmaxxer, anything that they can do to improve their appearance is worth the potential drawbacks of any dangerous or harmful behavior. This is because, to them, they can only have a fair shot at life if people perceive them as attractive.
Looksmaxxing has received a lot of media attention and discourse over the last few years, and with that has come an overall negative impression of manosphere culture in general. However, retardmaxxing attempts to "chew up the black pills and spit out white pills," to use the colloquial terminology. Essentially, retardmaxxing as a movement attempts to take certain "unfortunate realities" that manosphere culture perpetuates and turn them into something actionable and productive for young men. Retardmaxxing can axiomatically be described as "don't overthink." A lot of young men, like most people in general, are constantly inundated with ideas of who they should be and what they should think. These ideas come from advertising, social media, and film and television. A retardmaxxer would say to take all of these influences, throw them out the window, and focus on what's right in front of you so that you can attune yourself to who you actually wish to be.
Of course, this movement does come with certain preconceived ideas already due to its derivation from manosphere culture. It's why the movement is called "retardmaxxing," which takes a subversive slur and tries to reframe what it actually means so that it can buy social capital and get credibility from the young men it targets. As a younger guy myself (not even 30 yet!), I understand why the reframing is appealing. As a teenager and young adult, using certain slurs was a key way to create in-groups. The subversive language was an effective way of gatekeeping certain people, and this was done mostly because we felt disenfranchised ourselves. With the rise of movements like third-wave feminism and post-structuralism, many young men have felt culturally cornered due to certain assumptions made by people from those separate movements.
Particularly, the idea of a patriarchal society—particularly the idea that all or most men are distinct benefactors of this ideological system. What I see, however, is that while society is patriarchal, its benefactors are mostly those in more powerful economic positions. Those men who hold that economic power have historically upheld ideas of patriarchy and have benefited from the in-groups that it facilitates. However, most men do not hold that same degree of economic power and, to certain extents, have similar levels of disenfranchisement as women or certain minority groups. Most men die in wars, receive substandard healthcare, work dangerous jobs, and receive little to no emotional support. That's why manosphere movements have been so culturally impactful; they provide a "way out" for those disenfranchised men.
Despite this appeal, I still think that movements like retardmaxxing don't effectively speak to the struggles of men in general. Reframing subversion doesn't suddenly make certain things non-subversive. I think that if we really wanted to speak to men's issues, we need to look not at individual psychology in and of itself, but at how that psychology affects relationships and overall social structures. With men receiving little emotional support, I think it's important that we look to how men treat each other before pointing fingers at other demographics. I know that in my life, most of the men I know are emotionally repressed and don't feel comfortable properly expressing their thoughts and feelings. In turn, I've seen the quality of certain relationships greatly diminish for reasons that, at least to me, seem totally preventable.
Most men claim to have little to no close friends. I've been fortunate enough to have many close friends throughout my life. While those relationships don't always last, I can confidently say that their impact does. The male friends that I've had made me the man I am today, and I will be forever grateful for the good men in my life who have helped me through my darkest and brightest moments. My hope is that I can take what I've learned and how I act, and make a better template for men in the future. I know that ultimately, we are all loved more than we could ever know, and I think it's important to use that love to make ourselves better each and every day.
You matter. Keep going.
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