The term “Looksmaxxing”, I’m sure, isn’t lost on anyone in our generation in the present day. But just to clarify, Looksmaxxing is defined as a set of practices popularized online to “help” people intensify their attractiveness, which supposedly increases their value as members of society. As of now, the fad is snowballing into an increasingly toxic standard that mainly targets young men, capitalizing on their insecurities and lack of confidence.
At the forefront of this subculture is Braden Peters, a.k.a Clavicular, a 20-year-old influencer who got his platform promoting dangerous methods he uses to improve his physical appearance, including: bone-smashing (repeatedly hammering your facial bones with a blunt object), excessive steroid and drug use to stay lean, and extreme caloric deficits to shed face fat.
What makes this trend particularly concerning is not just the extremity of the methods, but how it contributes to the most damaging aspects of society. It feeds into toxic masculinity as something deeply ingrained in our culture, reduces a person’s value to a set of impossible standards, and promotes a mindset where self-worth is tied almost completely to physical appearance. Worse yet, this content presents women as benchmarks to a man’s success, treating them as tools in the pursuit of status. And none of this is anything new; it just reinforces the same patterns of misogyny that have been around for centuries, where women are reduced to status symbols and a means to an end.
In recent years, incel culture has drawn in a growing number of men to turn their insecurity (something everyone experiences) into resentment and frustration. What initially captivates these young men is so-called self-improvement content that disguises itself as advice—and to be fair, some of it is actually helpful. Building a routine, working out, and putting effort in are all things that can genuinely improve your life. But when does it stop being progress and turn into something else entirely? Eventually, when self-improvement isn’t enough to fill that void, the blame turns outward. It is now society’s fault for their lack of sexual success, and in turn, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where resentment reinforces the very isolation they’re trying to escape. And it’s in this collective mindset where figures like Clavicular find an audience.
From there, this logic spills almost seamlessly into ideas of male superiority and the objectification of women. Men like Andrew Tate market these ideologies, promoting an ideal where dominance is central to masculinity. They take advantage of naivety and inexperience, repackaging blatant machismo as a ticket to empowerment. And Clavicular isn’t even trying to hide it. The majority of his content involves live-streaming from clubs in Miami, where he engages in crude interactions with women that suggest “manliness” is tied to your ability to appeal to them. Media like this normalizes that behavior and presents it as acceptable, even aspirational.
In today’s world, social media makes trends (especially negative ones) spread like wildfire. Content like Clavicular’s is upsetting, and—while many can recognize its absurdity—over time it becomes something expected, blending into what they consume every day. For younger audiences like Gen Alpha, these messages shape their understanding of self-worth, relationships, and society. They are at the greatest risk of being influenced by it, especially when self-esteem gets entangled with attractiveness and social validation, which can affect how they perceive themselves and interact with others years down the line.
That’s not to say there is no solution. It really comes down to being more aware of what is being fed to us online, instead of taking everything at face value. When we start to explore the deeper meanings and subliminal messages, we begin to realize how much conditioning happens beneath the surface. The next step is taking action to filter out harmful content, and using features like the “not interested” button reduces how much of it we’re exposed to.
Ultimately, what we choose to ignore is what we choose to see. Clavicular and the looksmaxxing culture he represents show how easily ordinary insecurities turn into an addiction that can impact a generation. But as with any issue, it can be stopped at the root by confronting the media we consume and refusing to award space to platforms that exploit insecurity.