Stephen Colbert unpacks 'looksmaxxing', asks if men are OK

"It's what women know as getting ready to do anything ever, only to be told 'you look tired.'"
 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
A man in a suit sits behind a talk show desk. In the top left is an image saying, "Are men ok?"
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If you ever needed more evidence that the internet is a strange and disturbing place, Stephen Colbert's got you covered. In the clip above the Late Show host looks into the manosphere and the subsection of the "alpha male" online space concerned with enhancing looks no matter the cost.

"One men's trend, or 'tremend', that's raising some sculpted eyebrows out there is that men are now embracing aesthetic treatments, sometimes to the extreme in a trend called 'looksmaxxing', which is the maximisation of one's appearance," explains Colbert. "Looksmaxxing may include everything from moisturising to cosmetic surgery with tech bros getting face lifts and finance bros opting for filler with particular importance given to jawline, eyes and physique. It's what women know as getting ready to do anything ever, only to be told 'you look tired.'"

If you want to know more about looksmaxxing, Mashable's Chance Townsend has assembled a glossary of terms.

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Sam Haysom

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.


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