Looksmaxxing

About

Looksmaxxing, and its variants Looksmaxx and Looksmaxxer, is a slang term based on the aesthetic concept of Lookism and the suffix -maxxing, in accordance with maximizing one's physical appearance for real-world benefits. Predominantly used in incel and male subcultures, looksmaxxing focuses on aesthetic bodybuilding (similar to Zyzz for example) to improve one's social status. The phrase dates back to 2015 and started on the incel forum websites Lookism.net and Looksmaxxer.com. Usage of the term then became commonplace on 4chan and Reddit, continuing into the late 2010s and early 2020s on subreddits like /r/TrueRateMe, among others. Looksmaxxing discourse often centers on objectively absurd and obsessive aspects including mewing and bone smashing, which ultimately led to ironic memes and parodies. In 2023, various memes about looksmaxxing surfaced on TikTok that predominantly used images and videos of male model Jordan Barrett. Many looksmaxxing memes reference carnal tilt, height and hunter eyes, and also use the slowed + reverb remix of 'ecstacy' by SUICIDAL-IDOL, leading with the lyrics "I just wanna be your sweetheart."

Origin

"Looksmaxxing," and its variants "looksmaxx" and "looksmaxxer," originated on the incel forum website Lookism.net, which was first added to the Internet Archive ^[1] on July 1st, 2015. However, via the ICANN Lookup,^[2] the website was created on June 27th, 2015. On July 3rd, a forum on the site titled "Looksmaxxing" was added to the Internet Archive,^[3] and the earliest seen post in the thread was uploaded on June 29th (screenshot shown below).

In addition to Lookism.net, the Incels Wiki^[4] alleges that usage of "looksmaxxing" was also commonplace on two other incel forum websites Puahate.com and Sluthate.com which, along with Looksim.net, created what was dubbed the PSL.^[5] The Incels Wiki defines "looksmaxxing" as:

"Any attempt at improving one's appearance…. [involving] mild and well-known methods (such as getting a haircut, using minoxidil and grooming eyebrows) to more invasive techniques such as plastic surgery and using anabolic steroids."

Spread

On August 22nd, 2015, a new forum site called Looksmaxxer.com was added to the Internet Archive.^[6] The site's creation inspired the first-known usage of "looksmaxx" adjacent words to be used on 4chan, first surfacing on /r9k/ ^[7] in a post shared on November 8th, 2015 (shown below, left). A link to Looksmaxxer.com was shared to /r9k/^[8] a few days later. A year later, on November 4th, 2016, "lookksmaxxing" was first referenced on /pol/ ^[9] (shown below, right).

Usage of "looksmaxxing" became increasingly commonplace within the so-called "incelosphere" going into the late 2010s, additionally spreading to the mainstream internet, such as Twitter,^[10] as early as January 2016. Usage of "looksmaxxing" became notably prevalent on the incel subreddit /r/Braincels (since banned), starting with a post^[11] shared on May 7th, 2018 (shown below, left). "Looksmaxxing" was also commonly used alongside the slang term manlet (examples from /r/Braincels^[12] shown below, right), which started on /fit/.

On September 21st, 2018, an Instagram^[13] page for Lookism.net was started under the handle @lookismnet, uploading its first post on that day, giving an example of "hunter eyes" (shown below, left). Evident in a post from the Instagram^[14] page in September 2018, the slang term mogging was also commonly used alongside "looksmaxxing," which were both used to caption a photo of Jonah Hill with an objectively more attractive man (shown below, right).

Looksmaxxing TikTok

Despite usage prior to 2020, "looksmaxxing" didn't gain viral awareness and memetic usage until 2022 and 2023. Its mainstream appeal is made most apparent by its usage on TikTok starting in 2023. Looksmaxxing memes on TikTok most often portrayed ironic self-adoration in order to make fun of men who believed in and practiced looksmaxxing.

For instance, on July 25th, 2023, TikToker^[15] @olioco0 posted a video in which he used a face filter to make his jawline more defined, proclaiming that he was tall and had a good "carnal tilt." The video used a slowed + reverb remix of "ecstacy" by SUICIDAL-IDOL.^[16] The video gained roughly 564,700 plays and 46,800 likes in 10 days (shown below, left).

Also on July 25th, TikToker^[17] @phiziqu made fun of the trend by referencing bonesmashing and mewing, gaining roughly 1.7 million plays and 204,300 likes in 10 days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References