For the uninitiated, “looksmaxxing” is an internet term that originated on incel message boards in the 2010s. It’s a practice that encapsulates various extreme methods, such as jaw surgery, that some men go through to improve their looks. (Or, in the language of masculinity-coded productivity culture: to achieve peak optimization.) “Looksmaxxing” entered the zeitgeist in earnest after it seemingly started when its patron saint, the 20-year-old influencer Clavicular, appeared at New York Fashion Week last month, with profiles in The New York Times and GQ.
The term “looksmaxxing” and the goal of “optimization” are closely associated with what’s become known as the “manosphere”: a somewhat loosely related ecosystem of online communities and groups that promote outdated views of masculinity, rampant misogyny, and an opposition to feminism, has seemingly moved more mainstream. Netflix entered the conversation with a documentary featuring several other prominent influencers in this space. Since then, coverage has appeared everywhere from NBC News to the Wall Street Journal.
Now? Manosphere lexicon is entering the workplace.
“I’ve definitely noticed some manosphere-coded language in some of my employees,” Liam, an HR executive who asked me not to use his real name to speak freely on this topic, told me. “It raises some red flags, but I’ve never had any issues with any of these guys yet,” he shared, noting conversations about “alphas,” “betas,” “chads,” and “stacys.”
While the concept of the manosphere may feel new to those who don’t closely follow internet subcultures, its language—and the problematic ideologies it describes—have been slowly seeping into daily life for years. What’s changed is that we now have the tools to recognize it.
The manosphere’s slow, wide expanse
To better understand how internet subcultures move beyond niche communities and into everyday language, I spoke with Whitney Phillips, an associate professor of information politics and media ethics at the University of Oregon, who studies the relationship between online behavior and mainstream culture.
