Injections, Bone Hammering and the Pursuit of Peak Male Beauty

Key Takeaways

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  Looksmaxxing prioritizes physical attractiveness above all else

  “looks maxing is a community of mostly men on the internet who are dedicated to making themselves more attractive by any means necessary.”

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  Bone smashing aims to permanently reshape facial features

  “they tap their facial bones with a hammer on the theory that by causing lots of microscopic damage to the bone, it will grow back bigger and more attractive.”

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  The subculture evolved from fatalistic incel communities

  “Looks maxers are an offshoot of that ideology that is slightly less fatalistic.”

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  Mogging uses physical appearance to establish social status

  “Mogging is when you prove yourself superior to someone else. So, if you're more attractive than another man, you're mogging him.”

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  Clavicular catalyzed the movement's move to mainstream

  “The explosion of looks maxing into the kind of highest reaches of pop culture was really due to one guy. And he's a guy who calls himself Clavicular.”

Episode Description

If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, you’ve probably come across a video of a young, square-jawed influencer calling himself Clavicular. He has become the face of an internet subculture called looksmaxxing, in which men do almost anything — like taking steroids and hormones or bashing their jaws with a hammer — to try to become more handsome. In this episode, Natalie Kitroeff talks with reporter Joseph Bernstein about the world of looksmaxxing and how what might seem like a fringe phenomenon is actually the culmination of a digital culture that rewards physical perfection with status and algorithmic power.