Scrolling down the feed of the average adolescent boy might reveal a lot about their interests, from video games and sports content to something perhaps less familiar to parents: looksmaxxing — a viral movement that urges the radical improvement of physical appearance.
Many teens are interested in working out. But looksmaxxing is pushing boys and young men to take extreme and dangerous measures — like taking steroids or getting elective surgery — to achieve their goal.
Gene Beresin says he's never seen anything like it before in his more than 40 years of work in child psychiatry.
The executive director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital says there's a long and well-known history of how faddish and harmful beauty trends have changed the lives of young women.
"But it has been going on with young men for about a decade, and it has been increasing considerably during this last decade," he says.
Perhaps the most dangerous of these emerging trends, Beresin says, is looksmaxxing, which focuses on what is known as "ascendancy, or having a perfect body."
Once hidden in the fringes of the online world, the concept of looksmaxxing has made its way to the mainstream. Experts say parents should be aware of their sons' behavior around appearances: whether they're simply taking more of an interest in how they look, or if that focus has spiraled into something more.
Beresin says he has seen a spike in worrying behavior from male adolescents around their looks that can result in "significant physical, as well as mental health consequences," like eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
Born from inceldom, white supremacy
The concept of looksmaxxing emerged from the incel — or "involuntary celibate" — community. A core principle of this misogynistic movement is that the only way for men to achieve happiness, success and sexual attention from women is through optimizing their looks.
Social media is awash with methods of self improvement, ranging from the benign — like workout tips and skincare advice — to highly destructive measures like "bonesmashing," or hitting your face with a hammer, based on the misguided belief that minor fractures will help sharpen the appearance of your jawline.
"There's almost no focus on anything other than one's appearance in terms of your value as a human being," Beresin says.
One of looksmaxxing's best-known figures is controversial streamer Clavicular — an enthusiast who promotes bonesmashing and says he has dabbled in using crystal meth and other dangerous behaviors like taking steroids in order to achieve his physique.
Last month, the 20-year-old, whose real name is Braden Peters, was hospitalized in Miami after he passed out during a livestream and later said he was swearing off drugs.
Another aspect of looksmaxxing that troubles Beresin is what he says is its explicit and inherent ties to white supremacy.
European beauty standards are central to the beliefs of inceldom and extreme looksmaxxing.
"You're scored from being subhuman, to what's a normie — or normal — to Chad," says Beresin.
"And Chad is, unfortunately, the essence of white supremacy."
Proponents argue that poor looks are attributed to the eugenicist idea of failed genetics — in other words, the subhuman.
Compare that to the Chad ideal, portrayed as an angular-jawed, tall, white alpha male, whose looks and confidence afford him sexual gratification and career success.
Shortcomings on those fronts can be addressed, adherents say, through looksmaxxing to better one's chances for a successful life.
Look for these signs
For parents who think their sons might be involved in looksmaxxing, here are some things he says to look out for.
"Do they complain that they're not looking good enough? Are they comparing themselves to others? Is there a change in their eating habits?," Beresin says, adding that children, in extreme cases, might even request surgery to "fix" perceived wrongs with their bodies.
Jaw surgery is a particular favorite within the looksmaxxing community to create the perfect face.
Young adolescents, Beresin says, are "extraordinarily vulnerable."
Early intervention, he says, is the best remedy, suggesting parents and caregivers start having talks with their kids about their appearance and self esteem as early as preschool and approach them with genuine curiosity.
"The more we have conversations about how you're feeling, how you're looking – engaging, listening, validating them, being nonjudgmental, noncritical, it becomes a fabric of the relationship," Beresin says. "So if you haven't started, there's no better time than the present."
Break down the walls of adolescence
But getting your kids to open up, especially boys, isn't always easy.
Valerie Adams-Bass is an assistant professor of childhood studies at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on identity, body image and media among adolescents, and particularly on the mental health of Black youth.
She says social norms mean it's still hard for some boys to express their feelings.
"Males are not socialized at home — and certainly not in peer groups — to say, 'I'm having a tough day,' right? … They're just not socialized in that way at all compared to girls," she says.
Adams-Bass says parents should express interest in their sons' passions — say, what video games they're into — to help soft-launch conversations about more serious topics.
"'Why is that the avatar you've chosen? Why is it that you're choosing these exercises for the gym? Why is it that you are socializing with this particular group of young men?'" she says.
"And it may not all come at once, but it takes work to break down the walls of adolescence."
One way parents can help pull their children away from unhealthy habits associated with looksmaxxing is by encouraging their creativity and helping them pursue other interests.
"Teaching them how to code, teaching them how to create their own websites, creating those third spaces where they're actually able to create what they consume and talk about what they consume," she suggests.
Switching young people's focus to something fun and productive, she says, can redirect them from unhealthy behaviors — and also have lifelong benefits.
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