At the heart of all sin is the inordinate love of self. At the heart of all virtue is a reflection of the character of God.
I'm glad you wrote this, sir. I've uttered a prayer for Clavicular's soul. There's a little bit of this tendency in all of us, so this article (ironically enough) affords me the opportunity to reflect on the ways I fall short in this area and how I can do better.
Glad you liked the article brother, and thank you as always for your support! Absolutely agree that there's a tendency to love ourselves just a little bit too much. But it's all about coming back to our senses and placing Christ at the center. God bless you!
Brilliant article, way better than mine lol. Glad to see others who agree and who can much more eloquently explain some of the ideas I tried to convey in my article.
God bless you brother, thank you for sharing and amazing work.
Totally. Yours is good too! It’s important that people see that conservatives are aware of the pitfalls of this. Guys like us need to stand for true manhood, but also stand against this weird mockery of manhood.
Admittedly, I‘m from an older generation than Clavicular. We are proud of every scar, laugh line, lost hair, and a few extra pounds we gained. Because, to take a notion from One Republic, we lived, we didn’t primp before a mirror. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, we got into the arena instead of standing there as life went by.
Hello Sr. Del Corral, thank you for this post and thank you for what you do and for your humble insight. I’d like to support your effort but $5/mo or $50/annum is outside my budget as a retiree. Is it possible to make a one-time contribution of something less? Thank you again.
Thank you very much for the kind words and for offering to support. You can make a one-time donation and choose the amount you'd like to donate here: https://donate.stripe.com/dR68zfg5W9uK6ZOfZH
I'm very grateful for your support and may God bless you and your family!
Clavicular is a product of the online black pill community that believes that only your genetics?(looks and height) matter when it comes to finding a woman. This is because dating apps and social media have made it extremely difficult for a good average man to find a woman. So men are now more worried about their own appearance and height than ever before, because women’s dating standards have skyrocketed so high. Many men feel hopeless about finding a woman, and Clavicular did feel hopeless, so he got facial surgery and even height surgery, as well as steroids. This guy didn’t start doing this for no reason. The modern dating scene is hell for men and is what caused clavicular and many other men to do this.
The modern dating scene might be more difficult than in other times, but it's an internet exaggeration that it's impossible to find a good woman or that you need to get facial surgery to get female attention. That's just verifiably false. The real world is fine. Only in the blackpilled ecochamber of twitter and instagram is the dating scene as horrible as everyone tries to make it out to be.
I see what you mean. The thing is that clavicular actually got more female attention after all his crazy surgeries. If there wasn’t any truth to any of this, guys like clavicular wouldn’t be doing what he did
Female attention is not a variable that accurately measures how right or wrong an action or idea is. It really doesn’t matter if he got more female attention, the point is that you cannot make that your life goal.
“Getting more female attention” is a poor life goal and leads to disorders like this one. Additionally, what kind of “female attention” are we talking a out? I doubt that a virtuous woman who dreams to be a mother and raise healthy children in a loving home would have the same interest in someone who castrated himself to look prettier as a random promiscuous woman at a bar.
It's all good. I do get your point, but in my experience there's plenty of good women just waiting for a good man to step up, commit his life to virtue, work hard on himself, and have the courage to ask them out. In the groups I'm a part of there's an abundance of great women and a great lack of good men. Might be an exception, but I don't think so. It's the exact same in all the Christian groups I know.
Thanks! But lots of men my age believe that they will never marry because they think that they’re not tall enough or good looking enough. This is probably the first time ever where young men are just as insecure about their physical appearance as women are, if not more so because men cant control their height. Lots of young men are really questioning what their vocation is if the doors to good relationships keep closing on them
It can absolutely be taken too far, and focusing only, or mainly, on physical attractiveness will indeed lead to a skewed view of the world and people.
Having said that, has anyone seen the comic/meme of two men individually complimenting a woman in an office environment?
To the handsome man, she replies "Awww, sweet."
To the unattractive, overweight man she replies (to the phone) "Hello, human resources?"
This trend has come to be for a reason. I agree with you that social media is a big part of it, and you correctly mention dating apps, where men and women are reduced to a commodity and a "swipe" decision is made in less than one second based on the impression the image makes on the viewer. There are tons of examples of dating profiles where women state "If you're not over 6' (and/or earn 6 figures) don't bother trying to date me."
We should strive for higher, spiritual living - but we do live in the world, where looks do indeed matter. In my humble opinion, of course.
We ve been watching Clavicular as he relates to Mr Fuentes, and to be honest with you I think your assessment is overly simplistic. It is a hack thing to blame men for not being masculine enough, and it's always repeated by traditionalists, and on the subject of vanity you're overlooking the economic influence that causes a man to focus on his looks. A virtuous man would do the same thing because he would not be so obsessed with ignoring his looks as to neglect what is rewarded by the economy. Thomas Aquinas and other doctors talk a lot about how the policies of the state (and in our case, the monied powers) affect the young men, and the blame lies on the state rather than the whole population of young men. His reasoning for allowing public prostitution displays this.
Savonorola’s movement against usury and sodomy is another example. These things go hand in hand, and the vanity of men is related to sodomy and usury very closely. The economy is set up to groom young men to be sterile and exploited.
What feels accurate here is the way narcissism is framed less as a personality defect and more as an environment we’re soaking in. Looksmaxxing is just a loud symptom of something quieter and more common, the constant rehearsal of the self. Even people who would never follow Clavicular are still checking their reflection through screens all day long, curating how they appear, worrying how they’re being read. That kind of self surveillance slowly eats away at attention that should be turned outward.
The Narcissus connection works because the problem is not vanity in the shallow sense. It’s fixation. When you are trained to see yourself constantly, you lose the ability to forget yourself, and forgetting yourself is usually where love and vocation actually begin. Saints were not interesting because they were self aware. They were interesting because they were absorbed in God and neighbor to the point that their own image stopped being central.
This was a great reminder in a culture steeped in “self-love,” “self-care,” and optimization. I don’t think this problem is going away anytime soon, as it’s deeply ingrained in human nature.
I kept thinking about How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. That book is timeless not because it provides some groundbreaking, unknown insights, but because it’s honest about how inward-focused people naturally are.
What feels different now is that our tools feed that tendency and reward it nonstop.
Another interesting element to this piece is the bit about accepting our talents and flaws honestly. Both of those things are super hard, (but necessary) to do. The flaws part is especially tough because oftentimes it takes other people's feedback to gain insight into that.
Juan…this is such a needed word, and I really appreciate the tone you carried all the way through it.
What stood out to me most is your refusal to turn “Clavicular” into a villain. You named the reality without demonizing the person…and that feels rare online. The economy of attention does tempt young men with “shiny objects,” and your call to pray for him (instead of mock him) is a quiet act of resistance against the very narcissism you’re describing.
That Pessoa line is devastating…and your extension of it into the smartphone age is painfully accurate. We were not designed to see ourselves this often. The constant self-awareness, comparison, and performance slowly turns the soul inward until everything becomes about image management. You’re right…main character syndrome is not just a meme. It is a spiritual formation.
And I love that you didn’t stop at critique. You offered a path back through humility and charity…not as self-hatred, but as right-ordering under God. “Remove yourself from the spotlight and place others there”…that is such a simple sentence, and it’s basically a whole spiritual program.
Thank you for writing this with clarity, mercy, and backbone. This kind of piece doesn’t just “call out” the culture…it calls people home.
At the heart of all sin is the inordinate love of self. At the heart of all virtue is a reflection of the character of God.
I'm glad you wrote this, sir. I've uttered a prayer for Clavicular's soul. There's a little bit of this tendency in all of us, so this article (ironically enough) affords me the opportunity to reflect on the ways I fall short in this area and how I can do better.
Banger article, sir, keep up the great work!
Glad you liked the article brother, and thank you as always for your support! Absolutely agree that there's a tendency to love ourselves just a little bit too much. But it's all about coming back to our senses and placing Christ at the center. God bless you!
You're most welcome, sir. God bless you as well!
I wrote about this a few weeks ago. You should check it out! Good take on here -- seems to match what I'm seeing. https://substack.com/home/post/p-182826240
Brilliant article, way better than mine lol. Glad to see others who agree and who can much more eloquently explain some of the ideas I tried to convey in my article.
God bless you brother, thank you for sharing and amazing work.
Totally. Yours is good too! It’s important that people see that conservatives are aware of the pitfalls of this. Guys like us need to stand for true manhood, but also stand against this weird mockery of manhood.
Admittedly, I‘m from an older generation than Clavicular. We are proud of every scar, laugh line, lost hair, and a few extra pounds we gained. Because, to take a notion from One Republic, we lived, we didn’t primp before a mirror. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, we got into the arena instead of standing there as life went by.
Well said brother. I wrote an article not too long ago that relates nicely to your comment: https://simplemen.substack.com/p/lifestyle-engineering-vs-manly-sacrifice
Hello Sr. Del Corral, thank you for this post and thank you for what you do and for your humble insight. I’d like to support your effort but $5/mo or $50/annum is outside my budget as a retiree. Is it possible to make a one-time contribution of something less? Thank you again.
Thank you very much for the kind words and for offering to support. You can make a one-time donation and choose the amount you'd like to donate here: https://donate.stripe.com/dR68zfg5W9uK6ZOfZH
I'm very grateful for your support and may God bless you and your family!
Clavicular is a product of the online black pill community that believes that only your genetics?(looks and height) matter when it comes to finding a woman. This is because dating apps and social media have made it extremely difficult for a good average man to find a woman. So men are now more worried about their own appearance and height than ever before, because women’s dating standards have skyrocketed so high. Many men feel hopeless about finding a woman, and Clavicular did feel hopeless, so he got facial surgery and even height surgery, as well as steroids. This guy didn’t start doing this for no reason. The modern dating scene is hell for men and is what caused clavicular and many other men to do this.
The modern dating scene might be more difficult than in other times, but it's an internet exaggeration that it's impossible to find a good woman or that you need to get facial surgery to get female attention. That's just verifiably false. The real world is fine. Only in the blackpilled ecochamber of twitter and instagram is the dating scene as horrible as everyone tries to make it out to be.
I see what you mean. The thing is that clavicular actually got more female attention after all his crazy surgeries. If there wasn’t any truth to any of this, guys like clavicular wouldn’t be doing what he did
Female attention is not a variable that accurately measures how right or wrong an action or idea is. It really doesn’t matter if he got more female attention, the point is that you cannot make that your life goal.
“Getting more female attention” is a poor life goal and leads to disorders like this one. Additionally, what kind of “female attention” are we talking a out? I doubt that a virtuous woman who dreams to be a mother and raise healthy children in a loving home would have the same interest in someone who castrated himself to look prettier as a random promiscuous woman at a bar.
In his case, it was for promiscuous activity. But most men just want to be married, yet still struggle. Perhaps I should have clarified.
It's all good. I do get your point, but in my experience there's plenty of good women just waiting for a good man to step up, commit his life to virtue, work hard on himself, and have the courage to ask them out. In the groups I'm a part of there's an abundance of great women and a great lack of good men. Might be an exception, but I don't think so. It's the exact same in all the Christian groups I know.
Thanks! But lots of men my age believe that they will never marry because they think that they’re not tall enough or good looking enough. This is probably the first time ever where young men are just as insecure about their physical appearance as women are, if not more so because men cant control their height. Lots of young men are really questioning what their vocation is if the doors to good relationships keep closing on them
It can absolutely be taken too far, and focusing only, or mainly, on physical attractiveness will indeed lead to a skewed view of the world and people.
Having said that, has anyone seen the comic/meme of two men individually complimenting a woman in an office environment?
To the handsome man, she replies "Awww, sweet."
To the unattractive, overweight man she replies (to the phone) "Hello, human resources?"
This trend has come to be for a reason. I agree with you that social media is a big part of it, and you correctly mention dating apps, where men and women are reduced to a commodity and a "swipe" decision is made in less than one second based on the impression the image makes on the viewer. There are tons of examples of dating profiles where women state "If you're not over 6' (and/or earn 6 figures) don't bother trying to date me."
We should strive for higher, spiritual living - but we do live in the world, where looks do indeed matter. In my humble opinion, of course.
We ve been watching Clavicular as he relates to Mr Fuentes, and to be honest with you I think your assessment is overly simplistic. It is a hack thing to blame men for not being masculine enough, and it's always repeated by traditionalists, and on the subject of vanity you're overlooking the economic influence that causes a man to focus on his looks. A virtuous man would do the same thing because he would not be so obsessed with ignoring his looks as to neglect what is rewarded by the economy. Thomas Aquinas and other doctors talk a lot about how the policies of the state (and in our case, the monied powers) affect the young men, and the blame lies on the state rather than the whole population of young men. His reasoning for allowing public prostitution displays this.
Savonorola’s movement against usury and sodomy is another example. These things go hand in hand, and the vanity of men is related to sodomy and usury very closely. The economy is set up to groom young men to be sterile and exploited.
What feels accurate here is the way narcissism is framed less as a personality defect and more as an environment we’re soaking in. Looksmaxxing is just a loud symptom of something quieter and more common, the constant rehearsal of the self. Even people who would never follow Clavicular are still checking their reflection through screens all day long, curating how they appear, worrying how they’re being read. That kind of self surveillance slowly eats away at attention that should be turned outward.
The Narcissus connection works because the problem is not vanity in the shallow sense. It’s fixation. When you are trained to see yourself constantly, you lose the ability to forget yourself, and forgetting yourself is usually where love and vocation actually begin. Saints were not interesting because they were self aware. They were interesting because they were absorbed in God and neighbor to the point that their own image stopped being central.
This was a great reminder in a culture steeped in “self-love,” “self-care,” and optimization. I don’t think this problem is going away anytime soon, as it’s deeply ingrained in human nature.
I kept thinking about How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. That book is timeless not because it provides some groundbreaking, unknown insights, but because it’s honest about how inward-focused people naturally are.
What feels different now is that our tools feed that tendency and reward it nonstop.
Another interesting element to this piece is the bit about accepting our talents and flaws honestly. Both of those things are super hard, (but necessary) to do. The flaws part is especially tough because oftentimes it takes other people's feedback to gain insight into that.
Gotta stay centered on Christ always. Love it!
Juan…this is such a needed word, and I really appreciate the tone you carried all the way through it.
What stood out to me most is your refusal to turn “Clavicular” into a villain. You named the reality without demonizing the person…and that feels rare online. The economy of attention does tempt young men with “shiny objects,” and your call to pray for him (instead of mock him) is a quiet act of resistance against the very narcissism you’re describing.
That Pessoa line is devastating…and your extension of it into the smartphone age is painfully accurate. We were not designed to see ourselves this often. The constant self-awareness, comparison, and performance slowly turns the soul inward until everything becomes about image management. You’re right…main character syndrome is not just a meme. It is a spiritual formation.
And I love that you didn’t stop at critique. You offered a path back through humility and charity…not as self-hatred, but as right-ordering under God. “Remove yourself from the spotlight and place others there”…that is such a simple sentence, and it’s basically a whole spiritual program.
Thank you for writing this with clarity, mercy, and backbone. This kind of piece doesn’t just “call out” the culture…it calls people home.