A crisis of worth
A 14-year-old boy posted a close-up photo of himself online, asking strangers to rate his looks. He included his height and weight, then asked if he could still be attractive despite his “flat” Filipino nose. “You can rate me 1/10 if you like because I know I don’t look good,” he wrote in the caption. In another post, another Filipino user shared a series of full-body shots, asking for advice on how to look better. One replied that he looked okay but needed to work on getting six-pack abs. Another recommended laser treatment to remove his acne marks.
These posts appeared on a message forum dedicated to looksmaxxing, a viral online movement centered on maximizing one’s physical attractiveness. The trend largely attracts and is often marketed toward young men from different parts of the world.
The goal of looksmaxxing is to achieve “ascension,” or a kind of physical beauty and superiority, through different techniques. A person is first rated on what fellow looksmaxxers see as an “objective” scale of attractiveness that is based on facial symmetry and other supposedly measurable features. The scale is from zero to eight, with eight being the highest and zero the lowest, which in looksmaxxing is referred to as “subhuman.” Some users also turn to artificial intelligence apps to receive numerical analyses of how their facial features compare to existing beauty standards.
At its most harmless, looksmaxxing can just seem like ordinary self-improvement. “Softmaxxing” refers to simpler strategies like grooming, exercising, and high-protein diets. However, the movement also includes more extreme recommendations known as “hardmaxxing,” which involves radically altering one’s body through steroid use, growth hormones, and dangerous cosmetic procedures like leg-lengthening surgeries.
One of the most alarming practices the movement promotes online is “bonesmashing.” In this trend, young and grown men use massage guns or hammers to intentionally injure their facial bones because they believe it will grow back stronger or more defined. Videos on bonesmashing tutorials have attracted more than 250 million views on TikTok alone.
There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to look better. Grooming and regular exercise are healthy habits that can help build one’s confidence. The troubling thing with looksmaxxing, however, is that it actively teaches supporters that their natural features are defects that need to be corrected so they can meet narrow beauty standards. Various research findings and medical experts cite looksmaxxing as an emerging health concern because of its potential effects on young people’s physical and mental health, including promoting ideas of self-harm and suicidal ideation. A 2025 study found that boys and men in looksmaxxing communities may be influenced to see their physical attractiveness as proof of their masculinity, and that their inability to ascend meant “failing” aesthetically, socially, sexually, and morally as a man.
The psychological impact is quite apparent in the way young people talk about themselves on these message boards. One young man posted his photo and asked whether there was still hope for him to “ascend.” Another wrote that he would rather die early because he did not have the money to pay for aesthetic treatments that could change his appearance.
Young people are being drawn into these communities at an age when their sense of self is still being formed. Adolescence is a confusing period of physical change, while also learning how to see themselves and how much value they should assign to the opinions of others. It is understandable why they would turn to online communities to seek answers and connection. However, when a teenage boy posts a photo online to ask whether he is attractive or not, he is learning to outsource his self-worth to strangers who may respond with ridicule, harsh comments, and harmful advice because they may also be struggling with their own insecurities.
For decades, we have rightly paid attention to the extreme ways young women and girls are pressured to become more attractive. But the popularity of looksmaxxing reminds us that boys, too, are willingly harming themselves in pursuit of an “ideal” self. It reveals a deeper struggle young people now face with self-image and self-esteem in a hyperconnected, visually focused world, where everyone is constantly visible and constantly available for comparison.
Parents cannot always protect their children from every harmful trend online. But they can help build the inner language that young people can use to navigate these challenges. This means having judgment-free conversations with children about their self-worth and identity before the internet defines those things for them. Psychologists also recommend seeking professional help once parents notice significant behavioral changes and signs of distress about their appearance.
Looksmaxxing may seem like a niche internet trend, but it reflects a wider crisis of self-worth and how people are being conditioned to constantly measure themselves based on how others view them. What young people need is to be guided on how they can build a sense of self rooted in their inherent dignity, character, and meaningful contributions. We should not allow them to believe that their value can be reduced to something a stranger online can score.
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eleanor@shetalksasia.com
