Looksmaxxing: A History of Male Beauty  (2024)

Written by Torran Irwin

Cosmetics and skincare, once associated only with the homo or metrosexual man, are now purported as a pillar of your daily routine by the online ringleaders of masculinity. Cosmetics, skincare, and plastic surgery desire by male consumers have been rising exponentially in recent years. While attempts to rebrand makeup as ‘Warpaint’ for men seem to have fallen on deaf ears, the repackaging of cosmetics in the 2020s into scientific, formulaic solutions that will scrub your face of aesthetic misgivings have finally deemed such products serious enough to be accepted into the austere, logical realm of men.

The desire for a man to be pretty is neither new, nor wrong. A study from the University of Bristol found that Neanderthals from all walks of life used prehistoric forms of foundation and highlighter. Gym Bros, if you want to follow a caveman diet, why not try caveman makeup too?

Timothy McCall’s book, Brilliant Bodies: Fashioning Courtly Men in Early Renaissance Italy, explores the necessity of beauty to a Renaissance prince. For such a man, “Blanched, brilliant beauty legitimized authority and privilege.” You want to exemplify your divine right to rule? You must present yourself as a beautiful young man. Show off your luminous golden locks, and fair complexion, in opposition to the dirty, unshaven peasant classes. The great news is the unfortunate defects of your birth aren’t necessarily an obstacle. Just read one of the many Renaissance ‘books of secrets’ for how-to guides on lightening hair, under-eye creams, lip oils, and so much more! Men in the court of Louis XIV would follow in his use of rouge and powder in a community of Versailles makeup aficionados that would put James Charles to shame.

All good things must come to an end, and in one of the greatest historical tragedies, The Great Masculine Renunciation at the end of the eighteenth century rendered men’s fashion to the dreary mess we see today, their cosmetics eviscerated like a fourteen-year-old with an ASMR TikTok account. In popular memory, the Victorian world conjures up ideas of gothic misery, soot-covered orphans, and nausea-inducing sideburns for men. To be masculine was to engage in austere civility, to blend into the crowd in this new democratic society. Cosmetic aids were for the vain world of frivolous home-bound women.

In 1840, the US President Martin Van Buren had his masculinity called into question by Congress after cosmetics were found at his desk. His opponent, William Henry Harrison ran under a banner of hypermasculinity, a jab at the ‘dandy’ in the Oval Office. Fast forward to 1960, however, and everything changed. The first televised US presidential debate had the unwell-looking Nixon, who refused stage makeup, versus the dazzling, tanned, dolled-up, young Kennedy. The result? Polls flipped, and Nixon was perhaps quite literally mogged out of the White House. Unfortunately, in the 2024 presidential election, candidates aren’t looking like they’re going to steal any hearts. Perhaps with the right CeraVe cleanser and The Ordinary serums, Biden won’t look a day under 90?

In the heyday of fashion and beauty magazines in the 2000s, a man might have got a strange look if he was reading a copy of Vogue. In the world of social media, though, content for men and women is cross-contaminated. Man can listen to a story told by a woman on his phone, getting ready, doing her makeup. Men can share their beauty secrets (or misinformation) with millions of adolescent boys who haven’t quite developed the media literacy of their female counterparts, who have had to deal with the exploitation of beauty conglomerates looking to capitalise on the social imperative of women’s beauty since birth.

Though the term may arise from alt-right, incel corners of the internet, looksmaxxing has hit the mainstream. Its more benevolent side reflects a shift in masculinities, in which men can indulge in a desire to feel beautiful, for themselves, and to attract the attention of a modern woman with far more financial freedom than her nineteenth-century counterpart. Quantifying personal value through aesthetic quality in the language of economics and self-depreciation, however, is likely to push young boys into the grips of body dysmorphia all for the profit of a view, or purchase off the TikTok shop.

Men, find the value of self-care and beauty in the confidence and self-expression it enables you. Just don’t fall into the self-harming traps supported by a lucrative system of marketing. It will strip you down in front of the mirror and explain how your aesthetic Achilles heel devalues your personhood. It is a system women are all too familiar with. Mogg for yourself, not for profit.

Bibliography

Bernstein, Joseph. “Young Men Seek Answers to an Age-Old Question: How to Be Hot.” The New York Times, November 6, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/style/looksmaxxing-tik-tok-dillon-latham.html.  

Broeke, Teo van den. “The Male Grooming Industry Is Booming. Here’s Why.” CNN, July 19, 2023. https://edition.cnn.com/style/male-grooming-industry-booming/index.html#:~:text=Men%27s%20grooming%20is%20booming.,estimated%20%2474.8%20billion%20in%202021.  

McCall, Timothy. Brilliant Bodies: Fashioning Courtly Men in Early Renaissance Italy. 1st ed. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2022.

Moshakis, Alex. “Evolution of Man: The Rise and Rise of the Male Wellness Sector.” The Guardian, March 17, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/mar/17/evolution-of-man-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-male-wellness-sector.  

Notopoulos, Katie. “‘looksmaxxing’ Is the New TikTok Trend for Young Men Who Want to Be Hot.” Business Insider. .  

Priya, Elan. “Viking Beauty Kits and Neanderthal Contouring: The Secret History of Male Beauty.” The Guardian, August 25, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/aug/25/viking-beauty-kits-and-neanderthal-conturing-the-secret-history-of-male-beauty.  

Ricciardelli, L.A., and R.J. Williams. “Beauty over the Centuries – Male.” In Encyclopedia of Body Image and Human Appearance, 50–57. Elsevier Inc, 2012.

Sowad, Abu Saleh Mohammad. “Influences of Emerging Beauty Industry for Men on Construction of Masculinities of Male Students of Dhaka City.” Masculinidades y cambio social 6, no. 1 (2017)

There’s a market for men’s cosmetics–and a generation gap. https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/knowledge/customer-experience/there-is-a-market-for-mens-cosmetics-and-a-generation-gap.  

Featured Image Credit: Bühn, Maximilian. Deutsch: Robert Pattinson Bei Der Premiere von Die Versunkene Stadt Z Im Zoo Palast Bei Der Berlinale 2017. February 14, 2017. Own work. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Pattinson_Premiere_of_The_Lost_City_of_Z_at_Zoo_Palast_Berlinale_2017_02.jpg.

Looksmaxxing: A History of Male Beauty  (2024)
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