There is a trend going around on social media called “looksmaxxing.” It was popularized by a social media celebrity who goes by the name of Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters. He gained popularity from streaming on TikTok and Kick, creating new terms that are being integrated into our modern vocabulary, such as “bonesmashing” and “ascending.”
When I first came across one of his videos on TikTok, I was deeply disturbed. I couldn’t take his premise seriously and thought it was a joke that I just didn’t get.
I then started overhearing guys around me talking about him and even making inside jokes like being “frame-mogged.” This whole topic around looksmaxxing seems so surreal that I couldn’t make it up if I tried. The real issue starts to emerge when terms like “Chad,” “Stacey,” “foid,” “chudd” and “incel” start to be used to refer to regular people.
What might seem like harmless internet slang actually reflects a much deeper and more concerning mindset. Looksmaxxing isn’t just about improving your appearance in a normal, healthy way; it promotes the idea that your value as a person is almost entirely based on how you look.
The practice reduces people to rankings, categories and stereotypes — where a small group is seen as genetically “superior,” while everyone else is labeled as inferior or doomed to fail socially. That kind of thinking doesn’t just stay online either; it starts to shape how people see themselves and others in real life.
Another issue is how extreme some of the advice gets. Instead of encouraging things like confidence, hygiene or self-care, some parts of this trend push harmful or unrealistic methods to “fix” your appearance.
Things like “bonesmashing,” which literally involves hitting your face to try to change bone structure, are not only ineffective but dangerous. It creates the illusion that there’s always something wrong with how you look and that drastic measures are justified to “improve” it. For younger audiences, especially, this can be really damaging, since they’re still figuring out their identity and self-worth.
It doesn’t stop there either. Another growing part of this culture is the use of peptides for things like tanning and building muscle. These are often promoted online as quick, almost “scientific” shortcuts to getting the perfect body or look.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that many of these substances aren’t well-regulated, and the long-term effects are still largely unknown. People are experimenting with their bodies based on trends and influencer advice, without fully understanding the potential risks. It reflects the same underlying mindset as the rest of lookmaxxing, where the pressure to look a certain way outweighs concern for actual health and safety.
Social media plays a huge role in spreading this mindset. Platforms like TikTok reward extreme content because it gets attention, regardless of whether it’s shocking, controversial or just different. That means ideas like “looksmaxxing” can spread quickly and reach people who might not have encountered them otherwise. The algorithm doesn’t really care if something is healthy or harmful; it just pushes what gets engagement. Even if someone watches one video out of curiosity, they can quickly get pulled into a whole stream of similar content.
What makes this trend even more concerning is how it overlaps with other online communities that promote negativity, especially toward women. The use of terms like “foid” or “Stacey” isn’t just slang; it reflects a lack of respect and a tendency to dehumanize people. It turns real human interactions into a kind of game or hierarchy, where empathy and connection are replaced by judgment and comparison. Over time, this can affect how people approach relationships and how they treat others in general.
At its core, the looksmaxxing epidemic isn’t really about looks; it’s about insecurity. It takes normal feelings of self-doubt and amplifies them, turning them into something obsessive and unhealthy. Instead of helping people feel better about themselves, it often does the opposite, making them feel like they’re never good enough unless they meet impossible standards.
That’s why it’s important to actually talk about it and not just brush it off as another weird internet trend. The language, ideas and behaviors tied to looksmaxxing are already starting to show up in everyday conversations, especially among younger people. If it continues to grow without being questioned, it could have long-term effects on how people see themselves and each other.