Helen Smith

And what are some of those risky or concerning elements?

And how do you think looks maxing evolved from online forums into the mainstream social media?

Like what is behind this rise of it?

And you mentioned there the incel culture.

How does looks maxing intersect with incel ideology?

Some experts say that these creators position young men as victims of feminism or minority groups and then they shame them as losers or pathetic if they don't meet extreme masculinity standards and this status, like you were just saying.

How does that combination of victimhood and humiliation pull young boys deeper into this ideology?

One major part of this trend is having a strong jawline and it's often described as central to male attractiveness.

Why is the jawline culturally associated with masculinity?

A lot of these looks maxing influences or figures are selling or promoting coaching or courses online.

Some of them include face map audits.

And you mentioned this before, looking at the symmetry and proportions and even your posture.

Yeah.

What does this kind of scoring system do psychologically to young men?

And how would you describe the coaching or the programs that they're providing?

Even if it is pseudoscience that some of these looks maxes are promoting and you mentioned status there, it is gaining millions of views or millions of likes in some cases.

Even if it is all fake, it does hold a lot of power.

How can young men be wary of this or it's not their fault, I guess, if they get pulled into this and they're seeing a lot of positive reactions in the community?

Sam, thank you so much for joining us on The Briefing.

That was Samuel Cornell, a public health researcher from UNSW.