The Evolving Aesthetics of Beauty: Plastic Surgery, Social Signaling, and Intrasexual Competition

This episode delves into the escalating trends in plastic surgery across different demographics, particularly highlighting Gen Z women's increased interest in breast augmentation and labiaplasty, often influenced by pornography. The discussion also covers the rise of facelifts and buccal fat removal among young individuals, noting the paradoxical outcomes where procedures like buccal fat removal, intended to remove "baby fat," can lead to a gaunt appearance later in life, necessitating further cosmetic interventions. The hosts express concern over the extensive work done on very young people who do not yet show signs of aging.

The conversation then shifts to the underlying motivations and social signaling behind these cosmetic choices. It contrasts past beauty ideals, such as the "Jordy Shaw" aesthetic characterized by fake tan and big hair, with the current "Lux Maxing" trend. This contemporary aesthetic involves more extreme, almost caricatured versions of sexually dimorphic traits for both men and women. For women, extensive plastic surgery is presented as a status symbol, akin to an expensive designer handbag, signaling wealth and the presence of a partner who can afford such upkeep. For men, the focus has moved towards exaggerated features like jawlines and cheekbones, emphasizing "formidability" rather than traditional muscularity.

A significant portion of the discussion explores the role of intrasexual competition, particularly among men. Citing the "David Put study," the hosts argue that men's efforts in "Lux Maxing" are primarily aimed at outcompeting other men ("mogging") rather than directly attracting women. The study suggests that male ratings of formidability are more predictive of sexual success than female ratings of attractiveness. This leads to a working theory that by pursuing formidability, men might inadvertently increase their attractiveness to women, even if that wasn't the primary goal. The episode also touches on the "Fisherian runaway" concept to explain the evolution of extreme physical traits.

Finally, the episode addresses the "failure of cross-sex mind-reading," where men project their own preferences for physical attractiveness onto women, leading them to believe women prioritize looks as much as men do. This misperception can drive men to over-beautify. The hosts also introduce the idea that increased male beautification might be an attempt to offset socioeconomic lack, especially for young men seeking hypergamy when they haven't yet accumulated financial resources. Practical advice for men is offered: focus on getting rich and popular, and make diligent efforts to improve oneself, as these factors may be more impactful than extreme cosmetic alterations.

Now it is breast augmentation for Gen Z women. So they are actually boob jobs are very popular among that cohort. I do think that's influenced by pornography.

I don't think women that young need to be getting extensive work done because you do not have the signs of aging yet to justify

What happens is as you get older, your face naturally loses fat, right? And so you're going to look more gaunt. You've overshot it.

For women especially, I think it can also be the equivalent of showing off an expensive handbag. So instead of saying here's my designer bag, here's my designer titties.

It masks their underlying health and fertility, right? So, if a woman can turn back the clock in terms of aging, signs of aging, or appear more attractive than she naturally was...

The best explanation that I saw was that Sabrina Carpenter her physical presentation is basically gay and female coded. ...and Sydney Sweeney is sort of low maintenance natural malecoded beauty.

what guys seem to be optimizing for is formidability. So, they're optimizing for the sort of things that other men respect, not that women are attracted to.

the female ratings of attractiveness had basically zero predictive power for their sexual success, but the male ratings of formidability were very predictive.

Oh, it's a failure of cross-sex mind readading using their own uh assessment criteria. And saying you must think the way that I think.

the increases in male beautification are to try and offset this uh inability to get hypergamy to work that men have realized that because they can't win socioeconomically, they might have to turn... the vanity uh mirror around in an attempt to out beautify their socioeconomic lack.