Looksmaxxing, the peak of toxic masculinity by Chelsea Wang

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” I don’t know about you, but I have definitely looked at myself one too many times in the mirror. Like that big fat boulder from Indiana Jones, comparison will keep chasing until you're eventually crushed. Now cue “Looksmaxxing”, the online practice of “maximising” one’s physical appearance. Sounds promising right? Well, no. When it goes so far to the extent of snorting cocaine and hammering jawlines, it seems more like a cult than a community. Looksmaxxing not only harms those practising it, but also young teenagers who are heavily influenced by this media.

I spend eight hours on social media everyday. It’s not good. I tell myself, “I’m not addicted!”, but I think that’s what all addicts say. However my time spent scrolling has shown me that you genuinely cannot miss a single day on the internet. I don’t explicitly remember my first encounter with this cultural phenomenon. I do remember seeing videos pop up on my feed of random people asking how to “improve” their looks. To me they all just looked like… people. Looksmaxxing, an internet subculture, rose to popularity around 2022. Unfortunately for me and you its virality has only rocketed. The Cadogan Clinic associates it with features such as a highly defined jawline, a neutral to positive canthal tilt, and mandibular growth. Understand any of those terms? It’s okay, me neither. Most of these sound like terms you’d hear while falling asleep in science, but these are genuine problems that “looksmaxxers” (as they call themselves), worry about.

If you went back a few years, you’d find that Looksmaxxing was very different. I present to you: a reddit thread from 2021. There’s advice on hair, clothes, skincare…shoot, I might have to use these! Looksmaxxing unfortunately has evolved (or devolved!) into undergoing extreme routines for the sake of going from a three to a seven. Guess men got bored of objectifying women so they turned to themselves. Okay, let’s play America’s favourite game: ‘Guess That Fake!’. I’m going to list the routine of a looksmaxxer interviewed by BBC. You tell me which parts are fake. We have: working out, skincare, growth hormones, pushing index fingers against temples, and scanning his face on an app to rate his looks. Are you ready? Well trick question, they’re all true! You know…I just wake up, brush my teeth, eat and sleep but that’s cool too I guess. This routine surprisingly isn’t as bad as the others online, but as the wise Dr Michael Mronzinki, a sports physician said: "It might have started as 'here's my gym routine, here's my skincare routine, but now it's turned into 'Here's how I make my cheekbones bigger – by smashing them with a hammer.'"

You might think this is ridiculous (I do too), and you’re probably wondering if people even watch this stuff. But there is no one that loves these creators more than… teenage boys! Think about it. Teenage boys with the pressure of being “manly” see these older men who look the standard. They want to copy their ways to achieve the same result. The men’s mental health charity Movember shows that almost two thirds of males aged 16-25 regularly watch and read masculinity influencer content. When this context is constantly exposed to them, it is very easy to understand why they are influenced to try these methods for themselves. Trust me. As an older sister, I’ve seen the effects firsthand. Coconut water has stocked our fridge. Gym equipment has littered rooms. It’s bad. Medical News Today shows that 46% of young people use social media for at least three hours per day which may link to lower self-esteem. I think it's not harmful to try to slim your face or work out. It’s cosmetic surgery, doing cocaine, and physically hurting yourself that is — and to an audience of primarily minors too! Jeez, where are their morals? This encourages an unhealthy mentality that young boys need to look like men who one: have gone through puberty and two: whose bodies are much more suitable to taking drugs compared to a scrawny little boy.

Seeing your once cute baby grow up to be a reserved, rude teenager is exactly the growth of looksmaxxing. The Guardian called it “a mathematical problem to be solved with tools”. The New York Times openly degraded it multiple times. I’m not against trying to improve yourself, but this toxic community praises people who have reached their full potential and humiliates those who are trying. So, if you ever catch anyone — whether it’s a brother, boyfriend or even yourself consider slamming a hammer across your face, I urge you to stop before you end up swelling like a balloon.

Chelsea Wang
Year 12 ENWN