I’m article maxxing rn

Omg are you dissmaxxing rn? I’m so unemployedmaxxing. I’m gonna start locked in maxxing.

I’m sure even if you aren’t a blackpill looksmaxxer, you would have heard of the suffix ‘maxxing’ being used after literally every single word.

Unfortunately, my friends and I have fallen victim to the maxxing trend and as you can tell from the screenshot, we love to apply it to every area of our lives.

I originally assumed the term ‘looksmaxxing’ originated from Clavicular, but he only popularised it. The term ‘maxxing’ originated from game theory and was then adopted by the incel community, who then acquired the term ‘looksmaxxing’, which honestly makes a lot of sense and is probably why it is so popular within the blackpill, gym bro community. Looksmaxxing refers to trying to increase your attractiveness in order to raise your social and sexual value, but idk guys maybe we should just personalitymaxx or hobbymaxx instead xx.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to add the suffix ‘maxxing’ to any word I can, even when it doesn’t sound quite right, but there are some concerns with the associations that come with looksmaxxing in general. If you’re unfamiliar with who Clavicular is, he’s a popular streamer who promotes people to improve their physical appearance, particularly through unhealthy mechanisms such as ‘bone smashing’. Whilst I do find using the term pretty funny, I’m in two minds over whether popularising these terms can be damaging especially for younger people on the internet. The virality of these terms create echo chambers, by allowing these terms to become mainstream it means that accessing the communities from which they stem from all the more easier. This is worrying, especially as you can see the direct impact it has on younger boys in particular online. There was a period of time where I couldn’t scroll Tiktok without seeing edits encouraging young men to looksmaxx and teaching them unhealthy methods of reaching their ‘full potential’. Even though the word has started to lose its context, this doesn’t necessarily mean the context just simply disappears. The shared vocabulary creates a false sense of common ground – me using looksmaxxing to describe changing my lip combo is entirely different to someone deep in those forums using it to justify causing themselves physical harm.

This is particularly worth thinking about for younger audiences, who are both the most active users of this slang and the most susceptible to its upstream communities. The blackpill pipeline is well-documented: it typically begins with self-improvement content, progresses through increasingly fatalistic content about male attractiveness, and arrives at online spaces that are actively harmful.

I don’t mean to say we should start banning the suffix or that everyone who uses the word is responsible for researching its etymology before they post. That would be exhausting and a bit much. But there’s a difference between using a word and actively spreading it. “It’s just a joke” is how most concerning things start online.

So gymmaxx if you want. Crymaxx if it makes you feel better. Just maybe know what you’re quoting when you do.