Intro:

Sam Pratt was around 13 when he first saw people talking about “looksmaxxing” on YouTube.

The philosophy behind it seemed “pretty logical,” said Pratt, now 17 and attending high school in Constance Bay, Ont., a suburb of Ottawa.

“Attractive people are treated better in society,” he said. The idea is “just taking care of yourself and improving your looks as much as possible to gain a social advantage.”

Looksmaxxing is an online subculture based around the idea that, in order to be successful in romantic partnership and life in general, boys and men should work actively to improve their appearance.

On the more moderate side of things, “softmaxxing” looks like normal self-care efforts — getting a decent haircut, treating acne, eating better and working out.

But on the extreme, some “hardmaxxers” inject peptides and steroids, get plastic surgery or engage in “bone smashing” — hitting themselves in the face with knuckles or even hammers in the hope microfractures will heal over to create more well-defined bones.