A growing number of teenage boys and young men are spending hours online trying to become more attractive. The trend is known as “looksmaxxing”, which is a movement that encourages people to maximise their physical appearance through fitness, grooming, skincare, fashion, supplements and, in some cases, cosmetic procedures and dangerous body modification practices. What begins as self-improvement can quickly become something much darker.
Looksmaxxing emerged from online forums linked to the so-called “manosphere” and incel communities during the 2010s before exploding onto TikTok, YouTube and Instagram in the early 2020s. The movement gained momentum during and after the COVID-19 pandemic when many young people found themselves isolated, spending unprecedented amounts of time online and searching for identity, belonging and control. Researchers have noted that pandemic-era increases in online activity coincided with worsening mental health concerns among many young people.
At its simplest, looksmaxxing promotes self-care. Getting a haircut, exercising regularly and looking after your skin aren’t harmful activities. Yet the online culture surrounding looksmaxxing often goes much further. Participants are encouraged to analyse their faces, rate their attractiveness, compare themselves with others and pursue increasingly extreme methods to improve their appearance.
The movement has been fuelled by influencers who present attractiveness as a formula that can be mastered. Among the most prominent is influencer Braden Peters, known online as “Clavicular”, whose content promotes aggressive appearance-enhancing practices and a rating system that categorises men according to perceived attractiveness. Peters has described spending up to 14 hours a day online during the pandemic while immersing himself in looksmaxxing forums.
Some influencers frame looksmaxxing as a path to confidence and social success. Their videos often promise that a stronger jawline, lower body fat percentage or a more conventionally attractive face will unlock better relationships, popularity and happiness. Critics argue that this message reduces human worth to appearance and creates impossible standards that many young people can never achieve.
The mental health concerns are significant with researchers writing in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness arguing that looksmaxxing communities can harm the health and wellbeing of participants. They point to environments where appearance becomes an obsession and self-worth is measured through physical traits.
Doctors and psychologists have also raised concerns about body dysmorphia, anxiety and depression. Some popular looksmaxxing techniques, including “bonesmashing” – intentionally striking facial bones in the hope of altering facial structure – have been criticised by medical professionals as ineffective and dangerous. Evidence supporting other viral practices, such as “mewing”, remains limited.
The language used within some looksmaxxing communities can be particularly damaging. Men are sometimes labelled as “subhuman”, “normie” or “Chad” according to rigid attractiveness scales. Such systems create winners and losers and encourage constant comparison. The result is often a cycle of insecurity where no amount of improvement ever feels sufficient.
Critics have become increasingly vocal. Journalist Becca Rothfeld wrote that the moral objections to looksmaxxing are “numerous, severe, and obvious”, while Australian researcher Jamilla Rosdahl has warned that TikTok’s algorithms can draw vulnerable young men towards increasingly unhealthy online communities.
Even beyond looksmaxxing, social media’s appearance culture is taking a toll. Influencer Demi Donnelly recently spoke about how years of online criticism affected her self-image, saying a cruel comment about her appearance sent her into a spiral of insecurity. Her experience illustrates how relentless scrutiny can shape the way people see themselves.
Faith communities have an important role to play in responding to this phenomenon with a radically different understanding of human value. Scripture teaches that people are created in the image of God. Human dignity isn’t earned through attractiveness, popularity or physical perfection. It is given by God.
That message may sound simple, but it directly challenges many of the assumptions driving looksmaxxing culture. When young people are constantly told that their worth depends on their appearance, churches can offer a counter-narrative grounded in grace and acceptance.
Faith communities can also create spaces where honest conversations about body image, masculinity and mental health are welcomed rather than avoided. Many boys and young men are carrying deep insecurities, but have few places where they can discuss them openly which is why they try to find advice online and by following influencers on social media. Churches that foster genuine relationships can help break the isolation that often drives people deeper into online communities.
Parents, youth leaders and pastors don’t need to dismiss every interest in fitness or self-improvement. Looking after your health and wellbeing is a good thing. The challenge is helping young people recognise when self-care becomes self-obsession.
The goal isn’t to convince young people that appearance doesn’t matter. It’s to remind them that appearance isn’t everything.
In a culture increasingly telling young men that they are projects to be endlessly optimised, the church can offer a different vision: that they are already loved, already valued and already worthy of belonging. That may be one of the most countercultural messages the gospel has to offer today.
