Patrick Bateman: the blueprint for looksmaxxing and mewing culture

After three decades, Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho still stands as the most relevant satire for the Metrosexual man. Perhaps now, more than ever!

“Mewing. Looksmaxxing. Mog. PSL God.”

This is our generation’s new language. A language that props itself against the ongoing fascination with attempting to change the way we look, and maximise our attractiveness. Generation Z is obsessed with looking good. However, they are not the first generation to be so concerned with what’s on the outside. This obsession gained traction in the 1980s, the setting for Ellis’ satirical commentary on metrosexuality, American Psycho.

What is Metrosexuality?
The term was coined in 1994 by Mark Simpson, in the Independent. Originally, the term was used as an observation on male vanity “coming out of the closet”, when it had historically been considered feminine or homosexual to take extended care of appearance and engage in self care. Patrick Bateman and the men who appear in Bret Easton Ellis’ book are the most clear cut examples of the metrosexual man. All of them spend hours preening themselves with endless products, and care more about the height and stiffness of their hair then fostering true relationships with other people. The novel dissects the Modern transfixture on appearances, arising alongside growing consumerist culture for products and plastic surgeries.

Our looks have become a currency in the New Age, where reflective surfaces cover every skyscraper and we
walk around with personal cameras and mirrors deep in our pockets. Patrick Bateman is still a concept, and not an attempt to emulate a living person as Ellis details, ‘Both the author of these Notes and the Notes themselves are, of course, fictional.’ He represents the monstrous reality of self obsession and fixation on personal appearance and routine. In a society that prides itself on individualism and personal growth, it leaves little room for community. The “surface reigns supreme” as critic Jefferey Hunter emphasises. Across the novel, Bateman reflects
on his complete lack of compassion and humanity behind the too perfect and well groomed exterior of his face and body. The world only gets to access his appearance and never stops to witness the emotionless void behind it.

Could this be the same reality for the new looksmaxxing trend?
Looksmaxing emerged in the 2020s, with the rise in TikTok and the isolation period brought on by Covid19. With the newfound time, influencers began to recommend their fitness tips and dietary diaries to impart knowledge on their young viewers. Not only was nutrition and fitness a large part of the online platform during the lockdowns but the same could be said for “mewing” and “mogging”. Mewing is the term used to describe the training of the jawline through pressing the tongue into the upper palate of the mouth. Mogging is the term used to describe being seen as more attractive than another person, usually when standing near to them. Tiktok users have been shown to teach mewing in their videos, relating it to a vital step for increasing attractiveness in the facial region and being able to “mog”.

Alongside mewing there has been an eye watering surge in other tips and tricks for looking better than ever,
and some of these are very dangerous. “Bonesmashing” is one of the slang terms used to describe the act of hammering the jawbones to sharpen their outward appearance. With the growing influence of videos displaying how and why you should follow harsh and strict regimes to heighten the potential of our appearances, there is a clear resemblance to the compulsive behaviour displayed by Patrick Bateman in Ellis’ novel, who is often detailing his outfits and obsessing relentlessly over his hair, as well as sticking to diets and exercising religiously. There is little else he character talks about in his inner monologues besides the looks of himself, his inner circle and the women he takes home to assault.

The link between looksmaxing, Patrick Bateman and misogyny towards women is not difficult to identify. The target audience for the trend is typically impressionable teenage boys and young adult men. Most of these ideas are often linked to attracting women and often translates to unreasonable expectations of female partners. The violence of American Psycho is most noticeably against the women Bateman is sexually attracted to, as he feeds off of the power hunger when he feels these women are in awe of him and his looks.

Despite admiring their bodies, he uses them for sexual pleasure and then discards them with acts of pure assault, often directing his violence on the female anatomy. Mary Harron’s 2000 movie version of American Psycho clearly visualises Patrick’s self obsession. When having sex with women, as he flexes his bicep in the mirror beside him and makes sure to look at himself rather than them. His sexuality is devoid of affection and romance – he chooses to idolise himself over the women he engages with. This can easily influence the young men who idolise the figure of Patrick Bateman, to view women as sexual objects who validate their fixation on personal attractiveness.

What can we take from this?
Metrosexuality is not inherently a bad thing or directly linked to the objectification of women. In a lot of ways, it is progressive for men to be allowed to engage in self care and not be deemed feminine for doing this, as they have in previous decades. Yet, when self care is tied to male domination and inflating male ego that Ellis is trying to expose in his novel it becomes toxic and harmful to both parties. Looksmaxxing revolves around ensuring attractiveness is the number one priority for young people – at times putting it above compassion and emotional intelligence. Despite progression being made in the self care of men, there has been little progress made with
emotional growth and conversational sharing between men. The men around Patrick Bateman fail to ask each other about their feelings and almost never talk about anything that is not materialistic or superficial. The men might be able to spend the whole morning using serums and cleansers but they cannot tell each other about their depressions or anxieties. Bateman often shows signs of low mood in the novel, and fails to make true romantic connections with the women in his life. However, he never opens up to his friends about this problem, especially when their conversations are always superficial and linked to the clothes each of them are wearing.

Bret Easton Ellis holds up a giant mirror to the faux progress of metrosexuality. Society is still no closer to getting men to delve into their emotional side, and replaces this with expensive products to make them look their best. The ending of American Psycho highlights the stagnancy of this change; Bateman slides back into his friend group even after rapidly descending into a rampant madness towards the end of both the novel and the film version. The men accept him because they are unaware of what lurks beneath his shiny exterior, or they just don’t have the capacity to care. With all these rising beauty standards, and fad tips for maximising facial potential, there is little room for delving below the surface…

Words by Bethany Dunn