If you’ve been on the internet a lot lately, you’ve probably heard about the trend among young men who’ve decided to dedicate themselves to looking better. While a noble goal on the surface, the reality is that many of them embrace frankly dangerous and unproven strategies in the pursuit of beauty and are subsequently mocked for it.
A man went on the “no stupid questions” internet group and asked people, “Why is “looks-maxing” ridiculed in men when women have been doing it since the beginning of time?” As one can imagine, it sparked quite the debate online. So read on to see what people say and if the word “looksmaxxing” is new for you, strap in.
Recently, some young men have been taking their own looks too seriously
Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual photo)
But one netizen wanted to know why there seemed to be a double standard
Image credits: Getty Images (not the actual photo)
Image source: pragmojo
Looksmaxxing means going to sometimes extreme lengths to achieve a certain appearance
Looksmaxxing, for those unfamiliar with the term beyond what the post describes, is a self-improvement philosophy that originated in online male communities, particularly on forums like Reddit and 4chan, before spreading to TikTok and broader social media. At its core, it operates on the belief that physical attractiveness is not entirely fixed and that men can systematically optimize their appearance through deliberate interventions. These range from what practitioners call “softmaxxing,” which covers things like skincare routines, better haircuts, teeth whitening, and posture correction, to the far more extreme “hardmaxxing,” which involves surgical and medical procedures.
The community has developed its own dense vocabulary around facial structure, jawline prominence, and symmetry, drawing heavily from evolutionary psychology research that does, in fairness, suggest that certain facial features consistently correlate with how people are perceived in social and professional settings. Studies published in journals like Evolution and Human Behavior have confirmed that facial attractiveness influences hiring decisions, income, and social outcomes for men just as it does for women, so the underlying premise is not simply vanity without basis.
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
Where looksmaxxing becomes genuinely distinct from mainstream beauty culture is in its systematic, almost clinical approach to self-modification. Followers track metrics, analyze their bone structure using calipers, and discuss procedures with a level of specificity that would not be out of place in a plastic surgery consultation. The more moderate end of this has quietly gone mainstream. Mewing, which is the practice of resting the tongue against the roof of the mouth to theoretically reshape the jawline over time, has hundreds of millions of views on TikTok. Dermal filler for men has grown into a multi-billion dollar market. None of that is inherently more alarming than the procedures the post lists for women. The double standard the post identifies is real and documented. A 2021 study from the University of Westminster found that men who openly discussed cosmetic procedures faced significantly more social stigma than women doing the same, even when the procedures were identical.
Many cosmetic surgeries come with risks
The danger, however, is real and worth taking seriously regardless of gender. The procedures that sit at the extreme end of looksmaxxing carry risks that go well beyond what most young men pursuing them understand. Jawline filler, one of the more common entry points, can cause vascular occlusion if injected incorrectly, meaning the filler blocks blood supply and can lead to tissue death or, in rare cases, blindness. This is not a theoretical risk. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has documented a sharp rise in filler-related complications as the procedure has become more accessible through unregulated providers and even at-home kits. Leg-lengthening surgery, which the post references, involves breaking the femur or tibia and slowly pulling the bone apart so new bone tissue grows in the gap. The procedure carries serious risks including nerve damage, chronic pain, fat embolism, and lengthy recovery periods measured in years rather than weeks. It was originally developed for people with significant limb-length discrepancies following injury or disease, not for men who want to gain two inches of height.
Image credits: cottonbro studio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
Perhaps the most insidious danger is the psychological dimension. Research published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery found that a significant portion of people seeking cosmetic procedures, particularly young men, meet the diagnostic criteria for body dysmorphic disorder, a condition in which surgical outcomes almost never produce lasting satisfaction. The procedure does not fix the underlying perception problem, and the risk of seeking more extreme interventions increases rather than decreases post-surgery.
Online communities built around looksmaxxing can function as feedback loops that intensify fixation on perceived flaws rather than offering any realistic perspective on them. The radicalization pathway from sensible skincare advice to discussions of experimental and dangerous procedures can happen gradually enough that participants do not notice the escalation. The conversation worth having is not whether men or women face a double standard in how their beauty investments are judged, though that is a legitimate conversation, but whether the social conditions driving people toward increasingly risky self-modification are being taken seriously enough by anyone.
Some readers immediately said it was all a double standard
He responded to some comments
Others suggested women are mocked for it as well
One reader thought the man just raised a good point
A few clarified that people tend to mock the subculture
We’ve gathered a few other opinions from the comments
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