Aestheticized self‑harm influences young men

Online ‘looksmaxxing’ communities can convert cosmetic aspiration into dangerous practices — from illicit hormones to meth use and bone‑alteration — framed as disciplined self‑improvement and broadcast as entertainment. That combination turns self‑harm into a cultural performance that recruits peers and obscures medical risk. — If platformized appearance culture normalizes painful or illegal interventions, it creates predictable public‑health harms, moderation challenges for platforms, and a gendered radicalization vector worth policy attention.