Individual dressed as character Kratos from PlayStation video game “God of War”, Source https://www.flickr.com, Author Mooshuu, (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
Children imitate the adults around them. It appears that young boys are now becoming as vain and shallow as we have taught young girls to be.
Since far too many are being brought up by the action heroes in films, the player characters in video games, and the “hypermasculine” influencers online instead of parents, boys are now falling prey to a trend called “looksmaxxing” which emphasizes idealized — often unrealistic — male looks [1][2]. Boys who cannot achieve the desired appearance are subject to derision and bullying by peers, depression, and even suicide.
Do we need more evidence that we have abandoned our children? Or is the problem that we lead such empty and self-absorbed lives, ourselves, we cannot tell the difference?
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[1] Wikipedia, “Looksmaxxing”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looksmaxxing.
[2] Parents Magazine, “Why ‘Looksmaxxing’ Is Putting Teen Boys at Risk” by Ashleigh DeLuca, 6/24/25, https://www.parents.com/why-looksmaxxing-is-putting-teen-boys-at-risk-11756133.
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