Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool’s Errand- Or Is It?

Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool’s Errand - Or Is It?

My reflection inspired by Joel Stein’s recent piece in The Wall Street Journal

There was a time, not too long ago, when a young man’s worth was measured quietly.
By how he kept his word. By how he showed up when it mattered. By how he treated people when no one was watching.

Today, that quiet measuring stick has been replaced by something louder, harsher, and infinitely more unforgiving: the mirror… and the algorithm behind it.

The other day, as I read Joel Stein’s article “Dear Boys, Looksmaxxing Is a Fool’s Errand,” I found myself pausing more than once, not because the idea was new, but because it named something many have felt but few have articulated so plainly.

What Exactly Is “Looksmaxxing”?

For those who may not yet be familiar, looksmaxxing is the growing online obsession, fueled largely by platforms like TikTok and Instagram, that encourages young men to optimize their physical appearance to the highest possible degree.

Not just basic grooming. But optimization:

• Jawline enhancement
• Skin perfection
• Hairline engineering
• Gym-sculpted physiques
• Even, in some circles, surgical intervention

It is self-improvement taken to an extreme, where the body becomes a project, and the face, a lifelong renovation.

The Seduction of Control

Let me say this clearly: the desire to improve oneself is not new. Nor is it wrong.

In fact, in many ways, it is deeply human. We diet. We exercise. We dress better as we grow older.

But looksmaxxing offers something more intoxicating: the illusion of total control.

If you are not succeeding in life, it whispers, it must be because you are not attractive enough. If you are not loved, it must be because your face has not yet reached its “final form.”

It reduces the complexity of human experience, love, respect, belonging into a single variable: appearance. And that is where the danger lies.

When Improvement Becomes Obsession

At some point, improvement quietly crosses a line into obsession.

You can often tell when it happens:

• When a missed workout feels like a moral failure
• When a bad hair day ruins an entire day
• When a stranger’s filtered photo becomes a benchmark for your own worth

And perhaps most troubling of all-when self-worth becomes conditional.

Not on character. Not on kindness. Not on contribution. But on symmetry.

A Generation Under a Digital Microscope

What makes this moment different from any other in history is not vanity, it is visibility.

Young men today are growing up in a world where:

• Every flaw can be zoomed in
• Every comparison is global
• Every “ideal” is artificially enhanced

The standards are not just high, they are often unreal. And yet, they are consumed daily, quietly shaping expectations of what it means to be “enough.”

The Quiet Things That Still Matter

As I sat with Stein’s argument, I found myself returning to something simpler. Something older. The men I have admired most in my lifetime-the ones who left a mark were rarely the most physically perfect.

But they had presence. They listened.They carried responsibility without complaint.

They made others feel seen. These are qualities no algorithm can measure. No filter can enhance. No surgical procedure can replicate.

So… Is Lookmaxxing Really a Fool’s Errand?

Perhaps not entirely. There is nothing foolish about:

• Taking care of your health
• Presenting yourself well
• Wanting to feel confident in your own skin

But it becomes a fool’s errand when:

• It replaces inner development
• It becomes the primary source of identity
• It convinces you that you are never enough

Because the truth, quiet, stubborn, and enduring-is this:

No amount of external perfection can compensate for an unformed inner life.

A Final Reflection

If I could say something directly to young men navigating this world, it would be this:

Take care of your appearance-but do not build your life upon it. Invest in your body, but also invest in your mind, your relationships, your sense of purpose.

Because long after youth fades and it always does-what remains is not the sharpness of your jawline, but the depth of your character.

And in the end, that is what people remember.

For my readers around the world, many of whom have watched generations rise and fall, perhaps this is not a new lesson, but it is one that each generation must rediscover for itself.

And maybe, just maybe, that rediscovery is part of what makes us human after all.

Meanwhile, here's the AI Overview

Looksmaxxing, the trend of extreme, data-driven self-improvement popular on TikTok, is likely a fool's errand for young men, argue articles from the Wall Street Journal and other observers. Joel Stein, writing for the WSJ, suggests the intense focus on facial metrics and physical, "hardmaxxing" changes (like surgery or extreme dieting) is a short-term, unsustainable endeavor, and encourages "looksminning" instead. 

Why Looksmaxxing is Considered a "Fool's Errand"

• Objectification and Misaligned Goals: It is rooted in a "20% of men get 80% of women" mentality, treating romantic pursuits as a, "fantasy-league football" game.
• Dangers of Hardmaxxing: Extreme methods like tapping faces with hammers for jawline definition, dangerous, "hardmaxxing" tactics.
• Long-Term Ineffectiveness: Intense focus on appearance often ignores the long-term reality of relationships, which extend well beyond the dating, "market".
• Over-Focus on Metrics: It reduces attractiveness to simple ratios, like facial width-to-height, rather than overall health or personality. 

Why It's Gaining Popularity

• Social Acceptance and Confidence: Many, like TikTok user Kareem Shami ("Syrian Psycho"), argue that improving one's appearance is a powerful tool for self-confidence, self-expression, and personal branding.
• Peer Validation: It's seen as a way to gain social validation.
• Online Culture: It's part of a, "digitally native" trend of tracking and optimizing every aspect of one's life, from fitness to, now, face structure. 

The Alternative: "Looksminning"

• A "Looksminning" Approach: Instead of chasing, "looksmaxxing," some suggest, "looksminning," which is interpreted as focusing on more grounded, sustainable self-improvement that embraces a more relaxed, authentic, and perhaps even "flawed" or, "personable," aesthetic rather than a "perfect" one.
• Focus on Health: This approach might involve prioritizing, "mental health and overall wellness" rather than, "just physical appearance". 

The Popularity of Performance-Enhancing Drugs and “Looksmaxxing”

A few months ago, at a Filipino community gathering here in the East Bay-one of those lively, food-laden afternoons where lumpia disappears faster than conversation, I found myself watching a group of young men off to the side. They were polite, well-dressed, quietly confident in that distinctly American way, but what caught my attention was not what they said, but how they carried themselves. Their posture, their fitted shirts, the careful choreography of their appearance, it all felt intentional, almost studied.

Later, in conversation, one of them mentioned his “cutting phase,” another talked about supplements he ordered online, and a third casually referenced a “cycle” as if discussing a new workout routine. The language was familiar, but the ease with which it was spoken was not. There was no sense of hesitation, no acknowledgment of risk-only optimization.

It struck me how far we have come from the bodies I remember growing up around. The men in my family-uncles, cousins, family friends were not sculpted in the modern sense, but they were undeniably strong. Strength showed up in other ways: carrying heavy trays at family parties, working long hours, showing up reliably. No one measured protein intake or tracked macros. There was pride, but not preoccupation.

My professional life, of course, has trained me to listen for what is not being said. At the FDA, I have spent years evaluating substances that promise improvement-drugs, supplements, interventions that exist in that gray space between innovation and risk. What I hear now, in these casual conversations among young men, echoes a familiar pattern: products marketed with confidence, used with enthusiasm, and understood only partially.

Performance-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids and SARMs, are often framed as tools-efficient, targeted, effective. But biologically, they are blunt instruments. They alter hormonal pathways that regulate not just muscle growth, but mood, fertility, cardiovascular health. In regulated settings, these risks are studied, monitored, and weighed carefully. Outside of that framework, ordered online, shared among peers-the margin for harm widens considerably.

What concerns me is not only the pharmacology, but the cultural momentum behind it. Among Filipino-Americans, there has always been a quiet negotiation of identity-balancing heritage with assimilation, modesty with visibility. For many young men, the body becomes a kind of shorthand, a way to claim presence in spaces where they may have once felt peripheral. To be muscular is to be seen. To be seen is, perhaps, to belong.

But belonging, when mediated through comparison, can become a moving target. Social media does not simply reflect reality; it amplifies and distorts it. The physiques that circulate most widely are often the least representative-enhanced, filtered, sometimes chemically assisted. Yet they set the standard. And against that standard, even disciplined effort can feel insufficient.

I think about this often in the context of risk. In my work, we talk about benefit-risk balance as if it were a calculation, something that can be neatly quantified. But in real life, especially for young people, the equation is emotional. The benefit is immediate: admiration, confidence, social validation. The risks, cardiovascular strain, endocrine disruption, long-term metabolic consequences are distant, abstract, and therefore easier to discount.

At that same gathering, one of the older Titos, someone closer to my generation laughed as he watched the younger men compare gym routines. “We used to compete over who made the best adobo,” he said. It was a joke, but also a reminder. Our metrics of worth were different. Not necessarily better, but less externally calibrated.

I do not think the answer is to dismiss this generation’s concerns or to romanticize our own past. The desire to improve oneself, to feel confident in one’s body, is deeply human. But I do wonder whether we have narrowed the definition of improvement too much. Muscle has become a proxy for health, when in fact health is far more complex-cardiovascular resilience, metabolic balance, mental well-being, longevity.

From where I stand, at the intersection of science, regulation, and lived experience, the more urgent task is not to discourage ambition, but to broaden perspective. To remind young men that their bodies are not just surfaces to refine, but systems to sustain. That strength is not only what is visible, but what endures.

And perhaps, in communities like ours, we can offer something steadier: a sense of belonging that is not contingent on optimization. A reminder that you are already part of something=family, culture, history that does not require enhancement.

In the end, the question is not whether young men will strive to become better versions of themselves. They will. The question is how they define “better,” and at what cost.

AI Overview: 

The rise of "looksmaxxing"-a viral self-improvement subculture that emphasizes radical physical transformation has fueled a dangerous, rapidly growing gray market of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and alternative supplements among young men. Driven by social media, this hyper-focus on attaining the "perfect body" poses serious, long-term health risks.

The Core of "Looksmaxxing"

• The Concept: Originating from online masculinity and "incel" forums in the early 2010s, looksmaxxing views physical appearance as a quantifiable and improvable metric for social capital.
• The Spectrum: It ranges from "softmaxxing" (skincare and haircuts) to extreme methods like cosmetic surgeries, intentional bone-shaping, and illicit pharmaceuticals.
• Viral Influence: Influencers like "Clavicular" (Braden Peters) have mainstreamed these trends, often promoting highly dangerous lifestyles as "shortcuts" to looking attractive. 

The Surge in "Alternative" PEDs

• Unregulated Compounds: While traditional anabolic steroid use among teens has actually declined, young men are increasingly turning to a gray market of largely untested compounds. 
• Unapproved Substances: Various research chemicals and selective androgen receptor modulators are frequently ordered online despite not being approved for human consumption by regulatory bodies.
• Health Risks: Medical experts warn that these alternative compounds carry massive, unknown long-term health risks, including hormone disruption, cardiovascular damage, and significant psychological effects. 

Creatine and Traditional Supplements

• Massive Uptake: With the glorification of specific gym cultures online, sports nutrition supplement use has significantly increased. 
• Usage Trends: Studies indicate a substantial rise in the use of common supplements like creatine among both adolescent boys and girls over the last couple of decades. 
• Professional Guidance: While some supplements are legal for adults, many pediatricians advise adolescents against use without medical supervision due to limited safety data regarding long-term impacts on developing bodies.

The Psychological & Societal Impact

• The Halo Effect: The looksmaxxing community is heavily tied to the belief that physical appearance dictates social success, causing individuals to obsess over perceived flaws.
• Extreme Behaviors: At its most severe, the subculture has popularized hazardous practices such as attempting to manually reshape facial structures through physical trauma and the misuse of prescription stimulants for rapid fat loss.
• Mental Health: Experts in psychiatry note that this hyper-focus on rigid beauty standards correlates directly with rising body dysmorphia, loneliness, and depression among adolescent boys. 

To read more about the rising trend of alternative PEDs, you can check out the full CNN Report on Alternative PEDs. If you are concerned about how this affects teenagers, the NPR Feature on Looksmaxxing provides valuable resources and early intervention advice for parents.

• “Looksmaxxing” trend boosts creatine use while steroid use ...

  May 18, 2026 — Key takeaways. While teen steroid use has dropped significantly since 2001, researchers worry that adolescents perceive steroids a...

  

  

  Nutrition Insight
• Taking a look at looksmaxxing — and what parents should know

  May 1, 2026 — "Looksmaxxing" is teaching men that pretty hurts. Many teens are interested in working out. But looksmaxxing is pushing boys and y...

  

  

  NPR
• Some young men turn to drug use amid 'looksmaxxing' trend

  Apr 19, 2026 — "Looksmaxxing" has become widely popularized by social media star Clavicular. Pipe Dream spoke to an anonymous student who uses "l...

  

  

  www.bupipedream.com