Online tools that score faces and suggest ways to improve appearance are “quietly mainstreaming a toxic view of masculinity and monetising insecurities”, new research suggests.
The trend has led to the rise of Looksmaxxing, described as an extreme physical optimisation of a person’s appearance.
In an article published by The Conversation this week, researchers Marten Risius (The University of Queensland), Christopher David and Daline Ostermaier (both from Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences) said there was a growing group of men who believed they were not attractive enough to form a romantic relationship.
The article said the concept of male “sexual market value” that began in online manosphere forums was now appearing in the TikTok feeds of Australian teenagers, repackaged as AI-powered “Looksmaxxing” apps.
The article came as journalist Louis Theroux released a documentary on Netflix called Inside the Manosphere which lifts the lid on what is described as a dangerous ideology.
The Manosphere is a term used to describe websites, blogs, and forums that promote masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism.
Kings College in London also released research this week showing 31 percent of Gen Z men believed a wife should always obey her husband.
The global study of 23,000 people found that about one third of these men say a husband should have the final word on important decisions.
Gen Z men (born between 1997 and 2012) were twice as likely as Baby Boomer men (born between 1946 and 1964) to have traditional views on decision-making within a marriage.
The Risius, David and Ostermaier article said their TikTok analysis revealed a dominant subculture around Looksmaxxing, with so called “blackpill edits” at its heart.
A “black pill edit” is a video that promotes the ideology that romantic success is entirely determined by genetic, immutable physical traits.
“The idea is closely tied to the incel (‘involuntary celibate’) subculture,” the researchers said.
“These are loose online communities of mostly young men who believe they are unable to form romantic or sexual relationships with women.”
“Our research suggests that, by scoring faces and suggesting ways people can ‘optimise’ their appearance, Looksmaxxing tools are quietly mainstreaming a toxic view of masculinity and monetising insecurities.”
(Another related concept, known as “taking the red pill”, refers to adopting a, often conspiracist, worldview that rejects mainstream narratives in favor of perceived hidden truths.)
The researchers said one Looksmaxxing influencer had more than 100 million views in 2025 alone.
Within this ecosystem, they identified more than a dozen smartphone apps that promised to help users on their Looksmaxxing journey.
“A key part of the success of these apps is that they provide a ‘recipe for ascension’ instead of the traditional stream of blackpill fatalism,” the researchers said.
“This makes these apps attractive to young men struggling with confidence.”
In another article published by The Conversation, Monash University Professor of Sociology Steven Roberts says that the Theroux documentary traces not only the rhetoric of “high-value men”, but also the livestream formats and business models that sustain this world.
“The result is both illuminating and unsettling,” Professor Roberts said.
“What emerges in Theroux’s exposé is not just provocation, but a clear misogynistic worldview. Across interviews and through influencers’ own content, we see the defence of a regressive gender hierarchy – and attempts to restore it.
“Women are described as having innate value through their beauty and sexuality, yet dismissed as less rational and emotionally stable. Monogamy is framed as binding for women, but optional for men. Gender equality is blamed for cultural decline.”
Theroux also showed how the audiences of these influencers were formed.
“In one early scene, young boys who look to be around tween age (with blurred faces) repeat lines about hating women and gay people with unsettling ease,” Professor Roberts wrote.
“Later, young adult men speak of having ‘no value’ unless they accumulate wealth, status and dominance. Working a nine-to-five job is framed as submission to the ‘matrix’ and the ‘hustle’ as freedom.”
