What Is 'Looksmaxxing'? Canthal Tilt, Mewing, A10s and T50s, Among Other 'Lookism' Buzzwords Explained

A series of viral TikTok trends have officially made the word Lookism mainstream. There are a ton of buzzwords flying around this subject like looksmaxxing, canthal tilt and mewing to name a few.

The videos and memes most often attest that a "looksmaxxer" is an alpha male, or perhaps even a sigma male; a man whose canthal tilt produces "hunter eyes," the likes of which could attract any partner. What was once only practiced by incels and pseudoscientists, Lookism is now a meme.

Although the concept of Lookism might sound self-explanatory, there are a lot of moving parts that make up its whole. Let's explain a few of them.

What Is 'Lookism?'

Lookism is centered on the basic idea that one's appearance affects how others treat them. Inherently, it attests that attractive people are more likely to be treated well in society, more favorably than those who are not attractive.

Lookism gets tricky when it defines what is conventionally attractive and what is not. It most often defines the binary through alleged facts seemingly proven by scientific research and studies.

What Is 'Looksmaxxing'?

The word "looksmaxxing" uses the prefix "look-" (from Lookism) and the suffix "-maxxing" which implies the action of maximizing one's looks. To looksmaxx means to change one's physical appearance to aid themselves in society akin to the beliefs of Lookism.

Usage of "looksmaxxing" started within online groups of incels (involuntary celibates) in the mid-2010s on since-defunct websites like Lookism.net. Discussions based on looksmaxxing soon spread to 4chan and Reddit, surfacing in forums and threads where self-conscious men asked each other to "rate me," as in, to rate their physical appearances.

Recently, looksmaxxing has become a TikTok trend where users portray a satirical version of themselves that is self-centered. These TikTokers often use face filters, like the "Bold Glamour" one, to make themselves appear hilariously over-attractive, topping off their video by joking that they've been "looksmaxxing all summer."

What Is 'Canthal Tilt?'

In a lot of looksmaxxing memes, people reference the phrase "canthal tilt." It's a scientific term that defines the angle measured between the outer corner of one's eye to the inner corner. A canthal tilt can either be positive, neutral or negative.

Why exactly does canthal tilt matter? Well, according to a few studies, namely one called "Is medial canthal tilt a powerful cue for facial attractiveness?" conducted in 2007 and another one called "Comparison of soft-tissue orbital morphometry in attractive and normal Italian subjects" conducted in 2014, the canthal tilt of a subject could be an indicator of attractiveness.

More specifically, it was found to be ideal for both men and women to have a positive canthal tilt. A negative canthal tilt was dubbed the least attractive.

In the same incel forums that discussed looksmaxxing, the topic of canthal tilt also frequently appeared. In the modern internet landscape, canthal tilt is often referenced in the looksmaxxing memes on TikTok. In them, people with a positive tilt will make fun of those with a negative tilt. The joke rests in how a canthal tilt is something that cannot be controlled.

What Is 'Mewing?'

Unlike one's canthal tilt, a jawline is something that can be improved to some extent with no actual surgery. According to looksmaxxers, the easiest way to sharpen one's jawline is mewing. It involves extended periods of time where one keeps their tongue on the roof of their mouth. It's often a constant state of being.

Mewing was originally conceived in 2011, and since then, many people online have sworn by it, saying that mewing changed their life and their jawline. Mewing is one of the safer forms of looksmaxxing (as opposed to things like bonesmashing), but it takes a lot of dedication and tongue strength.

The objective absurdity of mewing all day, every day has led to memes that make fun of it. Of course, mewing's not for everyone, especially people whose jawlines are already chiseled.

What Are 'A10s And T50s?'

Another piece of Lookism lore has to do with eye color. Oddly enough, the eye color discourse is not entirely based on real science. In fact, what's called the 1998 Eye Chart was originally a diagram for dolls, ranging from T50 (the darkest brown) to A10 (the lightest blue).

In 2021, users on the strange app iFunny decided to pretend that the chart was real science and satirically proclaimed that men with A10 eyes were "destined to define eras and change history" while T50-eyed people were "Untouchable – sanitation workers, street sweepers." Inherently, akin to many things on iFunny, the meme was a little racist.

Regardless, the concept of A10s and T50s has spread to mainstream meme enjoyers on TikTok and elsewhere who, for better or for worse, spread the "blue eyes" rumor in a hopefully satirical fashion.

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For the full history of looksmaxxing, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for even more information.