Washington: Wishing a chiseled jaw, a Tiktok male influencer hits its cheekbones with a hammer, highlighting the increase in “looksmaxxing”, an online trend that pushes techniques not tested and sometimes dangerous to increase sexual attraction.
The influential looksmaxxing, part of an online ecosystem called “light”, have increased in popularity in social networks, taking advantage of the insecurities of young men eager to boost their physical attractiveness towards women.
In the publications of Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube, they promote pseudoscientific methods to achieve everything, from west lips to chin extensions and “hunter eyes” in the form of almonds, often monetize their popularity by supporting a range of consumer products.
In more extreme cases, these influential advocate to take steroids, subject to plastic surgery and even “leg length” procedures to be more attractive.
While women can make regular visits to aesthetics or buy new beauty products, which stimulates a retail market for global beauty for a value of hundreds of billions of dollars, the light sometimes promotes a DIY approach that is based on the closest toolbox.
“Nena, what takes you so long in the bathroom?” Read the title that appears in a Viral Video of Tiktok from a man seen hitting his cheeks with the acute edge of a hammer, in what he calls his “skin care routine.”
Under the video there are dozens of comments that warn that “Bone Smashing”, also known as the hammer technique, is “dangerous”, while others consider it a legitimate way to achieve a line of angular jaw.
In other videos, the British influencer Oscar Patel promoted “Mewing”, an unseeding technique that involves pressing the tongue on the roof of the mouth to improve the jaw and facial structure.
Without offering evidence, he told his almost 188,000 Tiktok followers that such tricks would make them a “PSL god”, an internet jargon for exceptionally attractive men, abbreviation of a perfectly symmetrical aspect.
‘Perfect bodies, perfect faces’
In another video, the Tiktoker, based in the United States, Latham, told its 1.7 million followers to bleach their teeth applying hydrogen peroxide to their teeth with a cotton swab.
Some dentists warn that using the peroxide bought in the store could damage the dental enamel and gums.
The trend of looksmaxxxing is feeding “an industry of influential people who promote” perfect bodies and perfect faces “, often to fill their own nest,” said Siddharth Venkatarramakrishnan, an analyst at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, said AFP.
“Among men, this is mixed with the misogyny of the light, which often blames women for male insecurities, creating a toxic combination,” he added.
Many of looksmaxxing influencers seem to have a financial incentive, frequently taking advantage of their popularity to promote products ranging from skin cleaners to pheromone perfumes and even Chinese imitation watches.
Looksmaxxing is rooted in “ince” communities, or involuntarily celibated, an Internet subculture full of misogyny, with men who tend to blame women and feminism for their romantic failures.
“Incel Ideology is renamed for looksmaxxxing in Tiktok,” said Anda Solea, a researcher at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth. AFP.
In a study, Solea found that the stories inspired by Incl on Tiktok were avoiding a prohibition of hateful language with an focus on the words that are seen and tastier about personal overcoming.
“There are many pressures about men: we want to protect women from gender violence, but we must also be careful with young men and children,” Solea said.
Real world damage
Other related Maxxing trends have also gained traction, including “gymmaxxing”, which focuses on the construction of muscles and “moneymaxxing”, which focuses on improving the financial statement, all with the ultimate goal of increasing sexual desire.
The influential looksmaxxx, many of whom idolize male models such as the Australian Jordan Barrett and the American Sean O’Pry have accumulated mass followers as algorithms drive their content to millions.
These algorithms can cause damage to the real world, experts warn.
The danger was dramatized in the recent success of Netflix “Adolescence”, who follows the case of a 13 -year -old boy accused of killing a classmate after absorbing the misogynist content online.
The fictional crime drama refers to popular but unfounded theory “80/20” that states that 80% of women are attracted to 20% of men.
In a study last year, researchers from the University of the city of Dublin created false accounts registered as teenagers. They reported that their feeds Tiktok and YouTube were “bombarded” with male supremacy and misogynist content.
“More widely, this feeds toxic beauty standards that affect both men and women,” said Venkatarramakrishnan, of the Institute of Strategic Dialogue.
“The idea that if you don’t see yourself as a Hollywood star, you could also stop trying a relationship is deeply harmful.”
