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You’ve probably heard of looksmaxxing, theTikTok trend among young men to maximize their looks, with skincare, workouts, and even plastic surgery. It’s the idea of optimizing what one has to be the best version of themselves, at least on social media. Now, this idea has infiltrated the motherhood feeds. Enter mommymaxxing. It’s the idea of optimizing every facet of motherhood, from aesthetic choices, like your child’s clothing……Continue reading….
Source: Parents
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Critics:
Looksmaxxing is an online self-improvement practice focused on the process of maximizing one’s physical attractiveness. The term is a neologism which was coined on incel message boards in the 2010s. Previously, the phrase had limited usage on obscure internet forums, but was popularized on TikTok by primarily male content creators in the early 2020s.
The term has commonly been associated with the black pill ideology, which espouses that female sexual selection is primarily based on external physical qualities such as height and facial attractiveness, while qualities such as kindness and personality are ignored or even cause rejection. Looksmaxxing is very broad in the methods used to improve appearance; they can range from benign practices such as skincare routines and gym use, to more extreme interventions, such as invasive cosmetic surgery and usage of anabolic steroids.
Commentators generally criticize the concept as being judgemental and harmful to its practitioners (‘looksmaxxers’). Communities and influencers associated with the practice are described as rating individual’s appearance without concern for their overall well-being which can lead to negative mental health outcomes such as body dysmorphia and suicidal ideation. The increasing popularity of the concept has also led to concerns over its potential to promote hegemonic masculinity.
Looksmaxxing has been connected to incel sub-culture since its origins within it. Writing for The Conversation, senior lecturer and researcher Jamilla Rosdahl of the Australian College of Applied Psychology, considers that the practice converts young men into incels, as a result of TikTok algorithms. On the popularity of looksmaxxing amongst young people overall, she wrote that “where young people feel like they can’t control their environment,
They may turn to trends such as looksmaxxing as something they can control,” attributing several real world problems such as an unstable economy and the increase in young men struggling to get into relationships. In some cases, men involved in the practice have reported benefits such as getting a girlfriend, aswell as positive affirmation from their peers after improving their looks. Albeit such praise is invariably mixed with critique, which helps maintain a common outlook with less attractive members, who all feel subordinate to the masculine ideal.
Several methods of looksmaxxing have been criticized by doctors and dismissed as misinformation, including mewing and bonesmashing.[21] Regarding mewing, researchers have argued that evidence supporting any change in facial structure is lacking. Facial surgeons have criticized bonesmashing saying it includes the risk for fractures, facial misalignment, neurovascular injuries, facial deformity, and alterations in vision.
Physicians have been advised to help patients interested in looksmaxxing to distinguish between safe beauty practices and harmful practices, suggesting to patients to only conduct looksmaxxing practices when done in a medically viable manner. Clavicular’s system of rating looksmaxxing that he promotes in interviews and on social media is the PSL scale, which gives men a numerical rating then sorts men into three tiers: “subhuman,” “normie,” and “Chad.”
In her New Yorker criticism, journalist Becca Rothfeld explains, “The moral objections to looksmaxxing are numerous, severe, and obvious. A system that designates any person as ‘subhuman’ is beneath contempt, and that’s to say nothing of the racial slurs to which looksmaxxing stalwarts help themselves regularly.” She also cites a recent interview in which Clavicular “approvingly notes that Brad Pitt ‘mogs’ Mother Teresa.”
While its encouragment for men to care about their health and fitness can be seen as a positive, looksmaxxing overall is seen as demoralising to men, especially the young. A study published in the National Library of Medicine argues that looksmaxxing promotes a hegemonic masculine gaze on male bodies. Hegemonic masculinity is a social concept developed by R.W. Connell that defines the ideal form of dominant and physically attractive male bodies, legitimizes sexism, and reinforces patriarchy.
The study’s findings support its argument, and proves that the looksmaxxing community revolves around male supremacy and hegemonic masculinity.
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