“Looks are everything.” Written boldly across the banner of Looks-max.org, this motto is the central tenet of a burgeoning movement: Looksmaxxing. Volatile in its potential for influence and propagation, many of this culture’s ideas have taken hold of the zeitgeist in the form of memes and lighthearted humor. But there is something real happening below the surface, and I don’t believe it should be taken lightly. Often hateful, sometimes insightful, growing constantly: looksmaxxing is here to stay. Why?

First, let’s take a look at the current state of affairs. If you’ve been online as of late, you’ve probably come across many terms borrowed from this obscure subculture.

A finger tracing the edge of one’s jawline, in reference to the tongue posture technique known as mew-ing, has recently become a trending gesture. Search for mogging, a looks-maxxing term for brutally outclassing another person in attractiveness, and you will find countless viral Tik-Toks and anxious posts from out-of-touch parents.

To most, this is all just silly internet stuff, but to many others, these strange words and signifiers are part of what becomes a lens through which to view the whole world. They have coined a term for this obsessive commitment to human aesthetics: the blackpill.

The blackpill, in reference to the red and blue ones of The Matrix fame, denotes a shift in perspective.

A blackpilled person is one who believes they have discovered a massive hidden truth: looks are indeed all that matters, and if they do not adequately conform to an objective standard of beauty, they will be disadvantaged in life. This objective standard, its requirements, and the many strategies used to approach it form the larger landscape of looks-maxxing. Blackpillers promote a neurotic, absolutist approach to beauty which has dominated the world of looksmaxxing.

Gonial angle, ramus length, eyelid exposure, zygomatic projection. These are just a few of the countless cold, medical measures that the looksmaxxing community uses to quantify beauty. When the idea of being “good enough” gets thrown out the window, it can only be replaced with insecurity and dissatis-faction. In an echo chamber full of these blackpilled voices, it becomes easy to lose touch with reality. No regular person considers the gonial angle of the person they are talking to. However, I do not believe that looksmaxxing, nor the blackpill, are simple delusions.

Taken at a more basic level, this worldview is often hard to refute: Beautiful people have many advantages in life. It’s only sensible to maximize your own potential for beauty, and simple measures can have a positive effect. Being conscious of grooming, clothing choice and hygiene results in a more presentable appearance and leads to a better first impression.

But human beings are not mathematical equations, and if we all embodied the same clinical ideals of beauty those very ideals would no longer be beautiful.

I have endless empathy for the plight of the conventionally ugly, and I think we should all reckon with the myriad societal and personal consequences that come from being born without the features that are currently deemed desirable and aesthetic. Yet the solution cannot be to change ourselves. In the objectification of beauty, looksmaxxers lose sight of what it really means to be beautiful: Our beauty comes from uniqueness, from all the little things that set each one of us apart. Pursuing perfection will only crush this uniqueness, and self-love is essential.

I have been enticed by looksmaxx-ing, thinking to myself about all the ointments, serums and surgeries that could “fix my face.” But all those things make me who I am, and who I am is beautiful. We are all beauti-ful, and the structure of our skulls makes no difference at all. Looks-maxing has its place, but as always, everything in moderation.