Incels undergoing plastic surgery in desperate attempt to attract women

A new report detailing the phenomenon has gone viral

Incels are undergoing major plastic surgery in order to improve their appearance and become what they term “chads” ie men who sleep with lots of women, a viral report has revealed.

An article published by The Cut on Tuesday details the extreme lengths that members of the online community of men who call themselves “involuntary celibates” go to so they can have “chiselled features” resulting in “angular” and “sculpted” faces.

Incels are defined by their radicalised views towards women. According to sociology professor Ross Haenfler of Grinnell College, Iowa, they are often straight men who resent women for not desiring them because they feel that sex is something they are owed.

In the piece, writer Alice Hines meets several Incels, who she likens to “online misogynists”, that have undergone treatments such as facial reconstruction, jaw augmentation and hair transplants in a bid to improve their lives and boost their dating prospects or, as one puts it, “solve this woman thing”.

Thousands of people have shared the article on Twitter, responding with horror and sympathy to the details Hines describes.

“This is a wildly fascinating, mildly creepy look at the uptick in incel’s seeking plastic surgery to change their perceived sexless fate,” wrote one person.

Others argued that the views expressed by the men in the piece “don’t deserve” a platform, and criticised the publication for giving them a voice.

“[Incels] are dangerous and live by a learned ideology they choose to subscribe to,” tweeted one reader. “They deserve no sympathy, they are predators.”

While the article deals exclusively with men in the US, British cosmetic doctor Dr Tijon Esho tells The Independent that such treatments are just as in-demand in the UK, though the men seeking them are not necessarily part of the Incel community.

“It is a really troubling phenomenon that has grown over years, it’s almost like a new and exclusively male form of body dysmorphic disorder driven by the pressures of how they are perceived on social platforms. But in this case, it is directly driven by how they feel the opposite sex perceives them,” he explains.

The most popular procedure among these men, Dr Esho says, is the new Juvederm volux treatment, which is designed to add definition to a man’s lower jaw line.

An example of Juvederm volux treatment. (Dr Esho Clinic)

An example of Juvederm volux treatment (Dr Esho Clinic)

“I wouldn’t say this sort of treatment wouldn’t be exclusive to just the Incel community because it is now so widely sought-after,” he adds.

Data released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in March revealed a rise in the number of people seeking aesthetic surgical enhancement, with nearly 250,000 more cosmetic procedures performed in 2018 in the US compared to the previous year.