The Dark Logic of LooksMaxxing - Dr Debra Soh
In a Nutshell
Gen Z is aggressively pursuing plastic surgery and looksmaxxing to exaggerate sexually dimorphic traits—women chase peak fertility aesthetics like breast augmentations and facelifts, while men prioritize formidability signals such as jawline enhancements, height surgery, and fillers to dominate male rivals. This stems from intrasexual competition and status signaling (e.g., women's surgeries flaunt a provider's resources), but often backfires: procedures create unnatural caricatures, men prefer natural female beauty, and looksmaxxers chase male respect over female attraction, per studies showing formidability predicts sexual success better than pure attractiveness. Hypergamy pushes young men to beautify as a socioeconomic workaround, but true success demands wealth, popularity, and diligence over extreme mods.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Breast augmentation is very popular among Gen Z women, influenced by pornography. Labiaplasty is also common, with a study showing many young women feel self-conscious about their labia due to porn influence. Guys are getting filler injections into their penis to look bigger for sexual purposes.
Anecdote about housemate George's airplane joke: comparing penis size to a teeny tiny 175ml can of Diet Coke to make it look bigger, like a 330 or 355ml can.
Women under 30 are getting facelifts and upper eye lifts. Young women don't need extensive work as they lack signs of aging. Women aim to look like they're in their early to mid-20s, peak fertility age. Older women try to look younger; younger ones try to look older.
Men's peak fertility is very young, even illegal in some states. Men have a larger reproductive window with higher chromosomal abnormalities later, but women are more unforgiving.
Buccal fat removal removes cheek baby fat to look older, but faces naturally lose fat with age, leading to gauntness. People may need fillers later to replace removed fat. Example: fat removal before 24, then fillers after 28.
No judgment on adults getting procedures, especially in public-facing jobs due to pressure to look young. Concern is for really young people and men doing unnecessary work.
Young women (22-23) on TikTok look mid-30s or 40s after work.
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