Insecurity and loneliness are two factors that lead to dramatic outbursts and strange ideologies. This notion is perpetuated online and gives space for people like this to come together, which can create harmful ideas that further turn into internet trends and become gateways for much darker issues.
One of these most recent trends has been something called “looksmaxxing”, a community consisting of mostly men whose intent is to maximize their physical attractiveness. This community is a subculture of “gym-bro” TikTok, combined with “black-pilled” rhetoric, the online incel community and the male loneliness epidemic leads to an increase in insecurities in men.
The gym-bro trend is a widespread phenomenon online where mainly men go to the gym more to lose weight and gain muscle. Which is not inherently a bad thing. However, the term blackpill refers to the ideology that Anda Iulia Solea from Springer Link, a research platform, explains as “unattractive men are unable to transcend the confines of the social-sexual hierarchy that excludes them, and are forced to live in a state of doomed existence because of women’s rejection and privilege.” Within the internet exists this idea that men are not able to be with women because women control the dating world, while unattractive men are to stay alone. This can often contribute to suicidal ideation. This notion also contributes to higher rates of misogyny and in extreme cases the justification of rape.
“Taking the blackpill” is popular among “incels”, also known as involuntary celibates, typically young men who consider themselves too unattractive to attract women and have negative views towards women. These ideas and communities stem from a genuine issue—the male loneliness epidemic—where male friendships have decreased over the years and contribute to the isolation of men’s mental health.
Brigid Kennedy from the Week US, a weekly news magazine, says, “In 2021, fifteen percent of men stated they have zero close friends, compared to only three percent in 1990.” This isolation is often associated with incel culture, and the issue is worsened by an online echo chamber. The epidemic is a serious issue that creates a numerous amount of problems. This can lead to increased rates of violence stemming aswell.
Looksmaxxing for the most part is a harmless practice that is simply taken as a lighthearted joke by most young men, and the TikTok community is not always connected to incel public forums. However, there are a few worrisome implications within them. It is important to explore some common terms and the culture surrounding looksmaxxing.
The most common term is “mewing”. According to the Medical News Today, a medical news website, it explains, “uses the placement of the tongue to shape the jawline and face.” It is believed that it lifts the jaw and increases the aesthetics of the face, however there is little to no scientific evidence behind it. There is also “canthal tilt”, that measures the angle between the inner corner to the outer corner of the eye, and if it angles up it is preferably positive, but if it is down it is negative which is considered “unattractive.” With eyes, they can be categorized into hunter and prey eyes based on pupil and eye shape. As well as the 1998 eye chart that values lighter and bluer. There is also “mogging” someone, deriving from Man of God, which refers to looking more physically attractive than someone else. Looksmaxxers also idolize people such as Jordan Barrat and Francisco Lachowski, who are male models.
With these terms, many jokes are made such as, “[Point Of View]: Ur breaking up with me and asking why I haven’t said a word. It would break my 6 year mewing streak,” created by Mathieu Simoneau, a TikToker. Most of the content is humorous and lighthearted, however the consequences are not.
Looking at content such as this often on TikTok or Instagram for prolonged periods of time can subconsciously create a beauty standard within oneself. Especially in blackpilled ideology, it can create a strain in one’s physical appearance, and use health and fitness as a way to become more attractive rather than taking care of yourself. The idealization of model standards and heavy comparison can result in disordered eating. Some of the content has used the term, “starvemaxxing” when referring to looking better. Some of the content including the preference for blue eyes and light skin and “saving my bloodline” can also play into ideas of white eugenics.
This disordered eating within men has become more prevalent with the heavy reliance on toxic gym-bro culture and has increased body dysmorphic disorder, leading to the need to change drastically. According to Jennifer Luu from SBS News, an Australian television network, “A 2022 survey found one in five young males aged 12-18 experience body dissatisfaction. Over half desired to be taller, while over 65 percent desired to be more muscular.”
A lot of these men are not aware that they may have a healthy relationship with undereating and over-working out. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look better in a healthy way, but the unattainable ways that young men approach this is harmful. As well as the ties that looksmaxxing has to worsened mental health. The idea that “it is over for me”, or “ropemaxx”, refers to taking the life of oneself because you are not attractive enough to attract a woman. This joke of suicidal ideation can be rooted in something more serious.
The online forums in which incel culture and looksmaxxing take place do take this more seriously than the trend found on TikTok. There are multiple levels to it. Firstly is “softmaxxing,” which includes eating better, exercising more and showering. Secondly is “hard looksmaxxing” that includes bleaching of the skin, taking steroids or anti-hair loss drugs and light plastic surgeries. Thirdly, is “surgerymaxxing” that encourages people, specifically teenage boys and young adults, to get facial reconstruction surgery like otoplasty, rhinoplasty and facial implants. Jokes have been made about height-increasing surgery online most often.
An extremely controversial method is “bonesmashing” that according to the Incel Wiki, an information website on incel information, is “a practice that supposedly relies on Wolf’s Law that states that bones adapt to stress by becoming stronger to improve bone structure.” This includes using blunt objects, such as hammers to create stronger bones, especially in the face. This is not a common practice, however some people do participate in it.
The website to document internet trends and phenomenons, Know Your Meme, talked to six people between the age of fifteen through eighteen who participated in the practice. An anonymous user wrote, “I learned about bonesmashing because of Looksmax and I thought I looked horrible, so I started punching myself in my cheekbones and it worked. Then I switched to using a screwdriver and hitting my cheekbones with it. Now I do my brow ridge, chin and cheekbones.” This same user explained how it was addicting even though he most likely damaged the nerves in his face, causing bruising, bleeding and inflammation.
Because of that, this type of looksmaxxing can be categorized as self-harm. Bone-smashing comes from a place of insecurity, anger and jealousy, found heavily in incel communities. The main problem comes with this hive mind found in these forums, rather than independent thinking.
These ideas are usually concentrated in online forums like Reddit, 4-Chan or looksmaxxing forums, but have been migrating onto more mainstream platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. The biggest issue is that these light-hearted looksmaxxing videos, if seen enough, can send young and incredibly insecure men into a rabbit hole.
It is important to look at trends and the real motivation for them. In order to protect people’s mental health and acknowledge people who are silently struggling so these harmful ideologies do not become widespread. With this, perhaps young men will decide not to take the blackpill and find value behind relationships with others.
