Caveat – our friends at the University of Dalhousie in Nova Scotia released a study on “Looksmaxxing” that was recently reported by the CBC news. (1)(2)  For those who have been following us for a while, you know that recently, we have been writing a lot about how the “manosphere” is influencing youth and teen boys.  Looksmaxxing is a concerning byproduct of the manosphere as you will read. This is a follow-up article to the one we just posted titled, “Masculinity Influencers Are Shaping How Young Men See Themselves – And It’s Affecting Their Mental Health” (3) Imagine being a teenage boy today, scrolling through TikTok or Instagram, and suddenly coming across a flood of videos with titles like “Transform Your Jawline in 30 Days” or “How to Looksmaxx Your Face.” These videos promise quick fixes and dramatic enhancements to one’s appearance, all under the banner of “self-improvement.” While at first glance this content may seem like a harmless push toward better grooming or fitness, it can sometimes draw you in like a black hole into a deeper and potentially dangerous trend known as “looksmaxxing.” and it’s gaining serious traction among “some” teens and young adults, especially teen boys. Looksmaxxing has also been the topic of a 2022 animated Netflix series called “Lookism” (4) which is a South Korean animated adaptation of the popular Naver webtoon of the same name. The story follows Park Hyung-seok, a high school student who, after enduring bullying due to his appearance, wakes up one day with a second body that is tall and conventionally attractive. He discovers he can switch between these two bodies, leading to a double life that explores themes of identity, beauty standards, and self-worth. “Looksmaxxing” is the term used to describe the pursuit of maximizing one’s physical appearance. It often starts with basic self-care habits, like grooming and working out, but can escalate quickly to include extreme, sometimes risky methods, like cosmetic procedures or do-it-yourself (DIY) enhancements performed at home. The goal? To achieve an idealized version of physical beauty often defined by rigid and unrealistic social media standards that teen girls will crave. This movement finds its roots in online forums like looksmax(dot)org (5) , which is closely tied to a web of online communities known as the “manosphere.” (6) These forums promote not just appearance enhancement, but also serve as echo chambers for toxic ideas, including misogyny, nihilism, and self-loathing. The looksmaxxing world breaks down into two main categories: “Softmaxxing” and “Hardmaxxing.” Softmaxxing This approach involves non-invasive, lifestyle-based methods that are generally low-risk. These include: Softmaxxing, when practiced in moderation, can be a healthy form of self-care. But the issue arises when these efforts become obsessive, driven by social comparison and the constant pursuit of perfection. Hardmaxxing Hardmaxxing refers to more extreme, invasive, and often expensive measures. This category includes: Many of these methods are glamorized within online forums and social media posts, often with little regard for the medical or psychological risks involved. While personal improvement is not inherently problematic, looksmaxxing pushes young people toward unattainable beauty standards. The pressure to conform can lead to: For teen boys, who are the primary audience for looksmaxxing content, his can create a toxic loop. They’re often encouraged to believe their social value depends on their physical attractiveness and that drastic changes are necessary to be accepted, loved, or respected. At first glance, looksmaxxing seems like a superficial trend utilizing skincare tips, fitness advice, and grooming routines. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that for some, it becomes a dangerous gateway into radicalized online spaces, particularly those rooted in the “manosphere.” Here’s how it happens; a teen boy stumbles into looksmaxxing content while feeling insecure or rejected. He’s told that his worth is tied to his jawline, his height, or his eye spacing. If he doesn’t “make it” through physical transformation, he’s not just unattractive, he’s unworthy. This black-and-white thinking primes him for the next step where he is drawn into communities that feed on that despair and promise to explain it. That’s when the rhetoric shifts. What began as beauty advice morphs into toxic narratives such as, “Women are hypergamous.”, “Only 10% of men get all the attention.”, and “If you’re not born with good looks, you’re invisible.” Some forums go even further, pushing conspiracy-like content, blaming feminism, dating apps, and even entire ethnic or social groups for their perceived lack of success. It’s not just pseudoscience, it becomes a full-blown worldview. In these echo chambers, bitterness is validated, anger is nurtured, and radical ideas are dressed up as “hard truths.” For some, this spiral ends in deeper involvement in incel ideology or even participation in extremist online communities that normalize misogyny and dehumanization. The shift is subtle but powerful, moving from self-improvement to self-hatred, and then to hatred of others, primarily females. To understand how looksmaxxing exploded in popularity with some teen boys, we need to go beyond TikTok and other social media platforms, and look at the deeper cultural and technological roots that allowed it to thrive, particularly its ties to incel (involuntary celibate) communities. At its core, looksmaxxing is about optimizing one’s physical appearance, often to extreme lengths, in the hope of improving social and romantic outcomes. While this concept might sound like a standard self-improvement trend, it takes on a much darker tone in the corners of the internet where it originated. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok helped normalize the idea that appearance is currency. TikTok’s algorithm, for example, is often believed to favour conventionally attractive users, regardless of their follower count. (9) This created an environment where beauty isn’t just admired, it’s rewarded. Social media has amplified perfectionism, leading teen boys to feel an ever-increasing pressure to meet unattainable alpha male beauty ideals. During the pandemic, with more people stuck indoors and turning to self-improvement, looksmaxxing gained traction. But its roots stretch back even further to male-dominated online forums like Reddit, lookism(dot)net (2018), which is no longer available, many of … Continue reading The Rise of “Looksmaxxing” And How Teen Boys See Themselves