The extreme trend of 'looksmaxxing' is quietly spreading online, and experts say it’s leaving a serious mark on the mental health of young men.
We all have those off days when we look in the mirror and wish something was different - a bad hair day, a sleepless night, or maybe a spot that developed overnight.
But for some caught up in the world of looksmaxxing, that self-doubt can spiral into something much more dangerous.
Looksmaxxing is presented as a way to 'improve your looks to the max' - but beneath the surface, a new study warns it’s doing serious damage.
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"It is really caustic to the self-esteem of men and boys," explains Michael Halpin, a sociology professor at Dalhousie University who led the research, to CBC.
On popular message boards, users post photos and ask strangers to judge every inch of their appearance - from jawline sharpness to lip-to-chin ratios, and the responses are brutal.
Comments from trolls projecting their own insecurities on others range from 'your body is disgusting', to 'no one will ever love you', and 'you’ll never get a job unless you fix yourself'.
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Halpin’s team examined more than 8,000 comments from the largest looksmaxxing forum, which boasts around 60,000 members and millions of monthly visits.
Most users are heterosexual men aged 14 to their mid-20s, and they rank each other using a harsh hierarchy - 'chads' at the top, 'normies' in the middle, and 'subhuman' at the bottom.
The advice ranges from mild 'softmaxxing' tips like skincare, dieting and grooming, to extreme and dangerous tactics.
Surgery on the jaw, nose or eyelids is commonly pushed, as are steroids, botox, and even leg-lengthening procedures.
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One shocking trend is 'bonesmashing' - deliberately hitting facial bones in hope they’ll heal in a 'better' shape.
Yes, as absurd as it is, some insecure teens genuinely take on the advice provided to them by wicked cyberbullies.
Then there's the more mainstream practice of 'mewing' - pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth to supposedly create a sharper jawline - which has spread to TikTok and Instagram.
Some teens now casually use the lingo in school without fully understanding it.
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Halpin says the constant criticism teaches boys to pick themselves apart in unhealthy ways, and while the 'solutions' can be dangerous, his team frequently came across comments from trolls encouraging others to kill themselves.
"We saw numerous men being told that they're beyond help, beyond saving," Halpin explained.
"It's like, your appearance is set, nothing you can do will help you and you should complete suicide because looks are all that matter and you're going to have a terrible life because you're an ugly man."
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The looksmaxxing scene also acts as a gateway to darker corners of the internet, connecting with misogynistic and extremist spaces like incel forums and male separatist groups.
Morris Green, who runs the GuysWork program in schools in Nova Scotia, Canada, told the publication that these beauty standards are putting young men under pressure like never before.
"What really makes a person great has very little to do with the size of their biceps or their six-pack," he explained. “It’s about their integrity, their loyalty, their ability to care."
While looksmaxxing might sell itself as self-improvement, all it's doing is leaving behind a grim trail of anxiety, obsession, and harm.
Topics: Mental Health, Social Media, Community, Health, Beauty
Joe Yates