A social media influencer told me about the human skull before my TA could.
In my biological anthropology lab, we were given the opportunity to handle various recreated parts of the human skull. One cranial bone, the maxilla, forms the upper jaw. The left and right zygomatics are the cheekbones. In examining each bone, a mortifying realization hit me.
Clavicular had already taught me these things from my TikTok For You page.
Clavicular sounds made up, but it's actually an elongated version of the word clavicle, or collarbone.
Braden Peters took up this moniker as a reference to his own collarbones, which are apparently optimal. He has over 1 million followers on Instagram. He also regularly streams on Kick. His claim to fame? Looksmaxxing: making yourself more beautiful through any means possible. Recently, he was charged with rape in the state of Massachusetts.
Peters has tied an entire set of measurements and ratios to his self-worth and encourages his audience of primarily young men to do the same. This overwhelming fascination with one’s bone structure is a part of looksmaxxing.
Some aspects of looksmaxxing are actually beneficial, like working out regularly, eating well, going outside and soaking up the sun. I think it would be wonderful if teenagers were able to look up to an influencer suggesting these things, and there is someone who fits that bill.
Except, in the same breath, he suggests taking a hammer to your face in a practice called ‘bonesmashing.’ He also suggests you take a cocktail of drugs and supplements.
When you wrap the metaphorical (and, in Peters’s case, literal) pill in a piece of cheese, you can parade around looksmaxing like some health and wellness journey, and the young people watching the content can swallow it way easier.
Looksmaxxing sounds extremely unwise (or, at least I hope that’s the conclusion you’ve come to), but it’s caught on like wildfire online. The reason it permeates the minds of our generation so well is because we’re pretty malleable brain-wise. I mean, just look at fraternities.
Impressionable young men want to join, so much so that they find it desirable to throw condiments at each other in a damp basement.
When you’re young, the future is uncertain, and looksmaxxing dangles certainty in front of your un-bonesmashed face. It tells you your life is essentially out of your hands because everything is predetermined by your looks.
On the other hand, you’re capable of ascending. If you do what Peters does, you might be able to go from a LTN to a MTN. You will never be as beautiful as young Rob Lowe or Tom Welling, but you have the power to change your appearance.
All of this says looksmaxxing isn’t really beneficial physically, emotionally or mentally. Who is it benefiting then?
While there is not an official report of Peters’s actual net worth, his wealth shines through in his lifestyle and career, where he's able to employ video editors and cameramen. His rise to fame also granted him a spot at New York Fashion Week. He has also traveled to and posted content from nightclubs in Paris and recently filmed his trip to Tel Aviv.
So many doors opened for Peters as a result of his deep-rooted self-hatred, but how many doors does this open for the hordes of young men maiming themselves at his command? The streamer would say it's a result of his looks, that ascending helped him wealthmog or whatever stupid word he’ll come up with next.
In reality, it's because Clavicular has tapped into a deeply insecure audience, and it's proven very lucrative.
Currently, he’s offering up Camp Looksmax II, which is seven days in Los Angeles with him and another influencer who goes by Hex. It’s $7,500, and travel costs are separate. So, just seven days letting two dudes you deem hot boss you around? Okay, sure. Not to mention the money he makes through Kick and other monetized websites. Clavicular claims to make $80,000-100,000 a month.
Looksmaxxing is a lot of things. At its core, it is exploitative. There is no one quick fix to looksmaxxing because it's indicative of a larger culture of domination. If we want to ‘solve’ this social contagion of sorts, we will have to confront that culture.
Robin Faulk is a freshman studying English. Do you agree that "looksmaxxers" profit off of vulnerable young men? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com
