The ‘looksmaxxing’ epidemic

Illustration by Sami Seyedhosseini, Cartoonist

Doomscrolling on Instagram reels and TikTok has started to give people platforms that are damaging to our society. 

Recently, a new trend has formed catered towards men to optimize their physical appearance: “looksmaxxing.” 

Looksmaxxing, now defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “refers to practices, especially among young men online, to enhance their physical appearance.”

This practice has been going on for years, but only recently started going viral due to a streamer, Braden Peters, also known as “Clavicular.” In his content, looksmaxxing is defined as a way to ascend your looks into becoming a “gigachad,” which he explains is the highest level of attractiveness one can achieve.

Clavicular gained popularity on the streaming website Kick after he ran a man over with his car, posted extreme looksmaxxing techniques and expressed controversial opinions about the value of women. 

One of his most popular techniques is called “bonesmashing,” where he essentially urges boys to get a hard object — like a hammer — and tap on their cheekbones to cause small fractures that will strengthen their bones, giving them a sharper look. 

Techniques like this come across as so absurd that one would assume it’s a publicity stunt, but as seen on forums like looksmaxxing.com, thousands of people follow severe advice from strangers to maximize their appearance. 

On these forums, children post a picture of themselves asking for strangers to rate them and give them advice on how to look better. Users will recommend different self care remedies, like exercise, but some will advise the child to take testosterone supplements and peptides. 

Clavicular capitalizes on such users. 

A 20-year-old himself, Clavicular promotes a wide range of drugs to his audience, which primarily consists of teenagers and young adults. According to Clavicular, he regularly takes Testosterone, Minoxidil for his hair, Glutathione to “healthmax,” Desoxyn for appetite suppression and peptides for anti-aging. 

Although he promotes these drugs as ways for his audience to looksmax, he urges against use of recreational drugs — even though he snorts cocaine, crystal meth and takes MDMA on livestream. 

Yes, he tells his fans that doing these things may be harmful — but his whole brand is to entertain on an extremist level.  

I believe that our generation is going to become desensitized to hard drugs if they are constantly surrounded by influencers abusing them and showing how much “fun” they have. His young audience idolizes him, which may influence them to use and inject these drugs in an attempt to follow in Clavicular’s path. 

Clavicular is hiding his insecurities under a persona of fame, money, sex and power. Not only does he constantly parade around shouting slurs — the way he talks about women is horrifying. Clavicular openly approaches women telling them he wants only one thing from them: sex. And he expects the woman to comply. 

The worst part about it is that the women usually do.

I’m not sure if this is for clout or for the bit of it, but it paints a significantly offensive image of women. By agreeing to be a part of these streams and do illegal things on camera, these women are not only harming themselves and their future, but affirming Clavicular that he can get away with treating women this way. 

Furthermore, he has also expressed little to no care for the mental effects he’s pushing onto his audience. 

In a YouTube video titled “Clavicular VS 20 Anti-looksmaxxing JESTERS,” a participant asked Clavicular if he thinks that he contributes to the insecurity of our generation.

“I think that making people aware that looks are extremely important is going to lead to insecurity. That’s going to be a brutal truth, but it’s one that needs to be heard,” Clavicular said. 

He continued this statement by saying that people deserve the “truth” about their appearance, even if it’s damaging to their mental health. 

“If it sends them into a spiral of body dysmorphia and mental health issues, it sucks, but hopefully there’s a chance now that they realize what needs to be done.” 

According to an article published in Johns Hopkins Medicine in Dec. 2024, weight loss medications have been made increasingly popular by celebrities and influencers that young people watch. 

“This can lead to the belief that this is what (teens and young adults) need to lose weight — and misses the important point that all these medications have significant side effects to consider,” said the article.

Rather than promoting these drugs as appetite suppressant — or when abused, possibly an eating disorder — Clavicular says use is for “leanmaxxing.” 

I believe that many men are afraid to come forward about insecurities that they have, including weight insecurities and physical appearance. Society has trained men to think that eating disorders, mental health issues and sensitivity are feminine traits and make them weak. 

Clavicular might be a safe space for certain men because he shows that you can mask how you’re feeling by “egomaxxing.” He shows that with constant distraction, you can divert your attention onto things like sex and power, rather than dealing with the lack of your self-love and inner peace.

In my opinion, exposing men to influencers like Clavicular is damaging to not only our generation, but society as a whole. 

I will say this, however: I will never skip a Woah Vicky x Clavicular ship edit on my “for you” page. Where were you when Clav got frame-mogged by the Arizona State University frat leader? I knew about it before it even happened. I felt the vibrations in the tectonic plates move. 

Clavicular is definitely an entertainer, but it will be interesting to see if he decides to become healthy and love himself, or if we are all watching a future Netflix documentary in real time.