麻豆社

Looksmaxxing has been all over the internet lately - this is the trend aimed at young men and it鈥檚 based on the idea of self-improvement, maximising your physical attractiveness and increasing your sexual market value. It's been part of fringe reddit forums for years now but recently it鈥檚 become mainstream, with the hashtag going viral on TikTok, X and Instagram.

The trend promotes extreme dieting, obsessive body ranking and pseudo-scientific cosmetic advice - including a recent "bonesmashing" trend which has been condemned by doctors. And it has links to incel and manosphere networks. 麻豆社 journalist Thomas Morgan explains looksmaxxing and why it鈥檚 become popular with young men, as well as some of the real life consequences.

We speak to 22 year old actor Trevor Larcom about his own looksmaxxing journey and find out what he makes of the accusations of misogyny and toxic culture. And Stephen Imeh, who wanted to become the 鈥渇irst black looksmaxxer鈥�, tells us about his experience.

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Presenter: Iqra Farooq
Producers: Mora Morrison, Emilia Jansson and Julia Ross-Roy
Video producer: Baldeep Chahal
Editor: Verity Wilde and Harriet Oliver