"27-year-old programmer, male, single mother and fetus, listen to persuasion, ask for reform advice. ”
Nowadays, if you open social media such as Xiaohongshu, it is easy to swipe similar "amateur transformation" posts. While men on Chinese social media are still simply relying on netizens' gossip "makeover" to improve their appearance, in Europe and the United States, men are doing some "self-help plastic surgery" on their faces within their power - for example, hitting the face with a small hammer to shape the face.
In Europe and the United States, men are doing some "self-help plastic surgery" on their faces/Source: @letsteststudioads
This act is called "looksmaxxing", which literally translates to "the act of trying to improve one's appearance." In the context of the Chinese Internet, it can be regarded as the opposite of the classic saying "you have to work very hard to look effortless" - in order to look good, you have to work very hard to find ways to transform yourself, and you have to show that you work hard.
Why are white men in Europe and the United States, who have always stood at the top of the "chain of contempt" in the field of public opinion, so eager to "looksmaxxing"? Why do they also have appearance anxiety?
Become a "tender cow five parties"
The first step in trying to "strive to improve your appearance" and become beautiful is to define "what makes it good-looking". Nowadays, the popular good-looking among men in Europe and the United States is "Strong Jaw" – a strong chin.
Unlike our idea of preferring a childish, small face and fearing "cheeks", Westerners have always pursued an angular and well-defined face. If you look closely, you will find that whether it is a popular white male star - such as Brad Pitt, or a female supermodel who is mediocre in the eyes of the Chinese people but has become famous overseas - such as Lu Yan, their common characteristics are high cheekbones and square jaws, which are very similar to KFC has become a legendary off-the-shelf food "tender beef five directions" - with edges and corners.
Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Specific to men, a "tender cow five-square" face with high cheekbones, wide mandibles, and a prominent chin, with facial features such as a large nose and thick eyebrows, is a reflection of high testosterone levels, which means healthier and more manly, and has become the goal of looksmaxxing fans.
"Tender Niu Wufang" has very high requirements for bone phase, and even has extremely harsh parameters: the angle of the lower jaw should be 112°-118° optimally, the width of the jaw should be the same width as the zygomatic arch, and the more square the whole face, the better; outside the square, the ratio of length to width is best 1.618, so that it is the most standard......
Looksmaxxing is an example of a good side profile showcased
If you want to have such a precise angle, except for those lucky ones who are born beautiful and have won the genetic lottery, ordinary men who want to become "tender cows and five parties" can only rely on facial plastic surgery.
Changing the bone phase is an extremely complex and risky procedure.
In order not to leave a scar on the painstakingly carved face, the "Tender Cow Gofang" surgery is usually performed through the mouth. After wisdom teeth are removed, the doctor will use a "hardcore" tool such as a hammer, chainsaw, and electric drill to completely cut the front end of the mandible, force it forward to move it forward to the perfect angle with a splint, adjust the position of the upper and lower jaws according to the situation to match the two, and finally fix it with a titanium plate. This kind of "bone frustration and peeling" not only requires more than an hour of surgery time under the risk of general anesthesia, but also has to endure the swelling and pain of the face after waking up, and spend several months or even longer on the painful recovery period.
Comparison of before (left) and after (right) of male looksmaxxing shown on the looksmaxxing website
However, even with this pain, in recent years, more and more men have undergone plastic surgery in Looksmaxxing. Data shows that from 2020 to 2021, the number of facial plastic surgeries in Europe and the United States has increased by more than half, and internationally renowned maxillofacial surgeons perform at least 200 facial contouring surgeries every year.
Wake up with a strong chin full of charm and go to the top of your life...... Despite the high cost, physical pain, and uncontrollable risks, the "looksmaxxings" are not hesitant in the face of seductive beauty.
Each has its own tricks
Although the results are immediate, the lavish and costly plastic surgery bill is not affordable for everyone. As a result, more ordinary "looksmaxxing" who cannot afford plastic surgery have begun to seek "replacement" and make their appearance better in a more accessible way.
On social media, bloggers have come up with different tricks, either pretending to be subtle or professional, and delving into what the "rule of thirds of the face" is, outlining various "ideal contours". On TikTok, a video that teaches men how to outline their jawline through makeup has reached the top of the list, and another video that teaches how to use facial yoga "mewing" to practice "tender cow five directions" has more than 2 billion views.
Luca Lyse,过训练改变脸
Fitness, skin care, and makeup are already "standard", but for men who change their hearts, these methods seem too gentle. So, with a ruthless heart that longs to be beautiful - BoneSmashing, hammer therapy came into being.
In the 19th century, the German orthopedic surgeon Julius Wolf discovered that the bones of the human body can adapt internally, and if they are subjected to external pressure for a long time, the bones will correspondingly increase their bone density and hardness to resist stress, a discovery known as "Wolf's Law". Following the principles of the law and doing regular resistance training can theoretically thicken bones, prevent bone problems, and heal possible bone damage.
Followers of "hammer therapy" thus found a theoretical basis: using a small hammer to hit the bones of one's face all day long, causing a slight fracture of the jawbone, repeated beatings, and repeated cycles of fracture and healing...... They believe that the bones will gradually become stronger and more distinct in the process of damage and repair, and their faces will be reshaped, and the acquisition of "tender cow five directions" and masculinity is just around the corner.
In the forum of the looksmax website, someone shared a picture of measuring the jawline
On TikTok, countless longing men pick up small hammers, small bricks and even fascia guns, and sincerely "knock on the bones and check in" every day. Although all kinds of medical science have refuted the rumor that "hammer therapy" is a complete distortion of Wolfe's law, and although unnecessary physical pain is everywhere, those conclusive before and after comparisons and those sworn "success stories" still make more men full of confidence and pick up a hammer to smash themselves.
Is Incel to blame?
Things gradually developed from "everyone has a love for beauty" to an incomprehensible level. "Tender Cow Wufang" certainly has aesthetic advantages, but without an angular face, can you not let go of your attachment to a strong chin and live an ordinary and healthy life?
In fact, when Looksmaxxing and BoneSmashing gradually became hot topics on social networking sites, and when unbelievable ways to become beautiful emerged, a long-standing group, Incel, gradually surfaced.
Incel is an abbreviation for involuntary celibates, which refers to people who believe that they are unable to have a relationship and a partner because of their physical appearance - it is important to note that "single" here means that they cannot even have sex.
A still from the movie "Incel".
Longing for sex but not being able to have it, longing for women and misogynistic ...... Incels are unable to win the favor of women and start healthy intimate relationships for various reasons, and can only blame everything on appearance.
According to the theory of the Incel community, whether a person can be liked by women and whether he or she can have sex is determined from birth. Those men with strong chins and a marked masculinity are called "Chad" and are the pinnacle of sexual market stratification. The Insel at the bottom is not born beautiful, but also frustrated in real life due to various reasons, and it is difficult to spend a lot of money to completely transform itself, so actively practicing looksmaxxing and doing BoneSmashing has become the only choice to "change your life against the sky".
"All women in the world want the best-looking man, and if you know the truth, then you can act right away. In our shaping circles, it's common to hit your face with a hammer. You just look at your face, where can you lift it? Is it the cheekbones, the chin, or the eye sockets?"
"When you find something unsightly, you hit it with a hammer, up and down. It's like making sculptures, you're shaping your face. ”
The looksmaxxing website also shows how to look good by changing the way you breathe
Unfortunately, looksmaxxing and hammers may be able to change facial contours, but it is difficult for the Incels to really "make the leap" and become the so-called "Chad".
As a result, the anguished Incel began to point the finger at women, believing that women had the power to kill and kill their own sexual lives. This deviation of thought directly led to Incel's misogynism moving from online to offline, and their hammer was also transferred from their own face to innocent women. According to FBI data cited by Surruti Barra and Hannah Maguire in The Nature of Violence: A Study of the Criminal Mind, at least 50 murders in North America were directly linked to Incel's incitement from 2015 to 2020.
"Personality is important, but appearance is a self-evident deciding factor. Nowadays, more European and American boys seem to be embracing such "proverbs", either trying bizarre tricks to become masculine, or hating women and society as a whole in constant defeat.
The unchangeable "mother's face" and hard-to-obtain sexual privileges make them trapped between themselves and women, but they completely forget that the mainstream narrative of society is built by "standard men". The so-called masculinity is only one of several male aesthetics, and the male ruler emphasizes it, making it a baton, guiding the otherwise distinctive male to break his bones and self-esteem and move closer to artificially constructed standards.
The looksmaxxing forum on the looksmaxxing website, which includes sections for hair advice, skin care, facial yoga "mewing", cosmetic surgery, and more
This is true for men, and women are wrestling with the characteristics of the "standard woman" earlier and longer, and looksmaxxing has become a vocation that society requires women to fulfill, and it is no longer news.
I hope that men and women who are deeply troubled by looksmaxxing and endless appearance anxiety can soon understand that a strong chin or an A4 waist is just a part of the flesh - what can define us is not the fictional beauty of these superiors, but the "thinking reed".
This article was first published in the 9th issue of World Watch magazine in 2024
Author | Tao Kai
Editor-in-Chief on Duty | Huang Mingting
Edit | Jiang Wen
Typography | Fifi