While the desire for a strong jawline is cause for concern alone, the techniques children are engaging in to try to achieve the look are something else altogether.Ben Sweet/Unsplash/stock
One of the most popular – and, perhaps, poisonous – current trends to plague social media and many a conversation, among tweens, teens and their parents, is mewing.
Practised mostly by boys, it’s a tongue exercise that involves flattening their tongue on the roof of their mouth to help jut out their jawline, in order to pull off a bolder facial profile or, what some might consider, a more conventionally attractive look.
While, at first, the viral reels might appear innocent and even funny, after some deep scrolling, it’s evident this pursuit is playing on insecurities at a time when a teen’s pictures and posts define their social worth and popularity. TikTok videos, for example, span everything from before-and-after shots to tutorials on how to sharpen your jaw.
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Parents are sharing their concerns on social media, and teachers are, too. Some have even noted that students will use jaw training as an excuse not to speak up in class, and others have said children as young as 8 are participating.
And sure, if you’ve ever picked up an action-adventure novel or really anything with a romantic plot line, then you know: There is nothing quite as desirable as a man with a sharp jaw. We might find the answer to “why” in face-reading expert Jean Haner’s book The Wisdom of Your Face. According to Haner, the sharper and more well-defined your jawline, the more driven and competitive you are, and the more strength, power and determination you have. You are all the things, essentially: confident, smart, ambitious. If one comprises all of this, surely one has it all?
While the desire for a strong jawline is cause for concern alone, the techniques children are engaging in to try to achieve the look are something else altogether. There’s mewing and, on the other end of the spectrum, the use of steroids, jaw trainers, dieting, plastic surgery and even breaking bones in the face for a bolder look. There’s an online “school,” too, called Mogwarts, where young people can get advice on these tactics and compare progress in group chats – for a fee.
Naturally, brands are beginning to capitalize on the trend, too. Take, for example, Stronger Gum, which can sculpt your face after just two weeks of vigorous chewing – allegedly. Or Jawliner gum, whose logo reads, “Say goodbye to a weak chin and hello to a jawline that commands attention.”
This need to be more attractive isn’t new and has long been based on the idea that beauty is social currency – nor is it restricted to teens. According to Michael Halpin, a professor of social anthropology at Halifax’s Dalhousie University, that currency can get adults more engagement on social networks and, theoretically, more dates.
“A lot of the men feel like they are evaluated very quickly based on a few images on apps like Tinder and Bumble,” he explains. “They feel like it can be very hard to get matches on these apps, and having a good physical appearance – particularly your face – can be very important. They also think there is a science to looking good.”
These men and the online communities promoting this way of thinking, such as Mogwarts, Qoves or Reddit, focus on lookism, which is a form of discrimination that suggests the more attractive you are, the easier life is for you in every aspect. Therefore, looksmaxxing – maximizing one’s appearance to fit beauty standards – can only help.
And with handy online tools such as Beauty Score or Reddit rating pages, you can instantly discover just how supposedly hideous and in need of a glow-up you are.
We know Generation Z is online more than any generation before them, so the influence of these tools on the younger set may not come as a surprise. But where it is especially insidious is in the rise of online incel (men who feel rage toward women for denying them sex) and manosphere (men who promote masculinity and misogyny) communities, which platform renowned misogynists including Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson.
Members of these spaces believe, added Halpin, that women are biologically hard-wired to be hypergamous in terms of physical appearance, which means that women always select the most physically attractive potential partner. Therefore, one must achieve maximal hotness.
Although mewing was created by a pair of father-son orthodontists (who have since been accused of misconduct), there is no scientific research or evidence behind it, with likely no impact other than a negative body image. No matter, however: Those attempting to looksmax don’t trust the science. In fact, many believe the medical community is attempting to discredit mewing because it would take away potential profit from plastic surgery. Insert guffaw here.
So, who do these children trust? Well, each other. When one young person claims that mewing really worked for them, others buy into it. Consider it a hive mind, where disinformation is the real currency.
Ruxandra Gheorghe, a social worker and doctoral candidate at Carleton University’s School of Social Work in Ottawa, calls their online spaces “echo chambers.”
For those parents and teachers unsure of how to approach this, Gheorghe says taking the internet or phone away isn’t enough; there has to be a discussion that gets to the root of the problem.
It may seem to teens like online influencers and trends are providing answers to their questions, “but they are doing so by capitalizing on their insecurities and leading them to think that what they are selling is the one and only answer to their problems,” she explains.
“Teens are seeking clarity and are being told that this is how the world works. Of course, we know the world is much bigger than that.”