Self-Obsessed ‘Looksmaxxing’ Culture Subverts Traditional Masculinity

Unless you’re chronically online, you’ve probably never heard of the Gen Z influencer “Clavicular.” Within a year, his fame will likely fade, and within five, he’ll seem like a fever dream. But he matters now because he represents something deeper: a generation of young men who have abandoned traditional masculinity for self-destructive vanity.

Clavicular is his streaming moniker. His real name is Braden Peters, and he was born at the tail end of 2005. He attended a famous Roman Catholic all-boys prep school in West Orange, N.J. At 14 years old, he began self-administering testosterone injections. Just four years later, he was expelled from Sacred Heart University for hiding a stash of aggressive testosterone in his dorm room. The injections have apparently left him sterile and have created several other long-term health issues, similar to those experienced from taking traditional steroids.

The injections are worth the side effects, according to Clavicular, because he is invested in “looksmaxxing.” The term looks like a joke and feels like it could be on a sleazy Las Vegas billboard, but it’s an established online group. “Looksmaxxing” encourages its largely young male audience to maximize their own physical attractiveness at all costs. The ideology was spawned in chat rooms in the 2010s, and as social media has increasingly consumed the lives of young people, it has amassed a sizable following.

Clavicular is on a quest to “looksmax,” and the testosterone is just one part of that journey. He has promoted practices such as facial “bonesmashing,” a process that involves hitting oneself in the face with either hammers or fists to enhance facial features such as jawlines and cheekbones. Further, the 20-year-old has admitted to taking crystal meth to stay thin.

One “looksmaxxer” is a gimmick, but an entire mass of them is a cult. Clavicular currently has 760,000 followers on TikTok, with each of his videos receiving as many as 10 million views. On Kick, a livestreaming website, he has 178,000 followers, with his streams typically lasting between 10 and 14 hours. He earns up to $100,000 per month on Kick. His videos encourage people to engage in “looksmaxxing” through careful instructions on how to become more attractive. He proposes that if people are willing to sacrifice for their own attractiveness, they will become more influential and have access to more sexual partners.

Like it or not, Clavicular is an influencer. He has an audience, and although a good portion of that is largely ironic, it’s absurd to pretend that his messaging is entirely without traction. Through his association with other extremist personalities such as Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate, he has found himself in a position of political relevance. Worse, he has enough of an influence to encourage other young people to destroy their bodies alongside him.

Clavicular notoriously weighed in on the 2028 presidential campaign in an interview in late 2025. He bashed JD Vance for his physical appearance, going so far as to call him “subhuman.” Instead, he would prefer to vote for Gavin Newsom, whose failed political record was less important than his physical attractiveness.

Clavicular’s association of political success with physical attractiveness is representative of our culture’s gender confusion. What Clavicular and other “looksmaxxers” are promoting is a subversion of traditional male roles. Masculinity has long been defined by strength, both spiritually and physically. Emphasizing physical appearances above actual virtues destroys Christian manhood. It takes away their responsibilities toward wives, families, and society and instead places it on their vapid self-image.

Clavicular matters because he represents the irrational new political movements. Although he is typically associated with “right-wing” politics thanks to misleading legacy media coverage, nothing about him is conservative. His dedication to “looksmaxxing” is dangerously individualistic and at odds with traditional Christian values of sacrifice and respect. His ideology is much more akin to transgenderism, which aims to dissociate a person from their body to the point of physical mutilation.

Both ideologies promote taking additional hormones that can sterilize young people. Both ideologies frame a person’s body as the best representation of their soul. Both ideologies cause physical harm, whether it’s through breaking jaw bones or the removal of genitalia.

Clavicular embodies a generation of young people who feel no responsibility toward society. Rather, they are self-obsessed to the point of castration and mutilation. You need to know who Clavicular is so that his ideology can be stopped before it infects other vulnerable young people.

Brooke Brandtjen is a writer and journalist from Wisconsin who focuses primarily on culture, politics, and religion. She is extremely passionate about the arts and history, and is honored to write for a variety of distinguished publications.