This photo illustration shows a male TikTok influencer hammering his cheekbone, playing on a smartphone, next to a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a hammer. The 'looksmaxxing' trend describes young men's desire to obtain hyper-masculine features.CHRIS DELMAS/Getty Images

Debra Soh is a sex neuroscientist and the author of the forthcoming book, Sextinction: The Decline of Sex and the Future of Intimacy.

If you are over the age of 35 and work a 9-to-5 job, you could be forgiven for not knowing what looksmaxxing is.

The looksmaxxing trend describes young men’s desire to obtain hypermasculine facial features so they can improve their romantic prospects and ascend in life. Looksmaxxing encourages a range of self-betterment techniques, from milder strategies like facial exercises and thickening one’s eyebrows, to invasive regimens like plastic surgery, off-label use of human-growth hormone and testosterone, and illicit substances like methamphetamine to hollow out one’s cheeks.

These male beauty ideals are derived from scientific studies based in evolutionary psychology and biology. A strong brow ridge, prominent jawline and chin, chiselled cheekbones, and unflinching symmetry are signs of high testosterone and good health in men – hence why women find them attractive.

But in an era filled with influencers, these standards have been cranked up to an unforgiving extreme. Successful male looksmaxxers, with their predictable array of jaw implants, bushy eyebrows, and buccal fat removal, look like frightening, AI-generated carbon copies of one another. Their purpose in life revolves around monitoring where they and everyone else sit in the attractiveness hierarchy. A generation of teenage boys and young men will stop at nothing to........

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