Men’s faces are under scrutiny as never before, with more opting for cosmetic procedures than ever. What is behind this sudden and significant shift?
The images are familiar: square-jawed white men, faces set hard, barking the language of strength and command. Over the past week, as the United States has pressed its military campaign in the Middle East, the face of defense secretary Pete Hegseth has appeared on screen after screen delivering the rhetoric of the warrior-patriarch. It is a face already known for other performances: posing in the gym alongside Robert F Kennedy Jr for the Department of War YouTube channel; lecturing the military about “fat generals”; hosting a weekend show on Fox News.
But here, borrowing the glory of the troops, Hegseth presented the general’s mask – the jutting jaw, the unflinching gaze – albeit without, some critics would suggest, the military experience or strategic judgment it usually signifies. Donald Trump, too, has offered his own version of the strongman face; the commanding presence, white and unyielding, though recently people have been rather more distracted by the new rash on his neck.
Men’s faces are under scrutiny as never before, in positions of cultural as well as political power: on red carpets, in tabloid closeups, across social media feeds, and in movies, TV shows and adverts. Their features are pored over, speculated about and dissected. Has Bradley Cooper had fillers? Does Brad Pitt have a new jawline? Is that really Jim Carrey?
Scrutinising the face is not new, but it is women’s faces that historically dominated media attention, usually questioning whether or not they have had cosmetic surgery, and who might look older, younger, fatter or thinner. For women, the homogenisation of beauty standards has been well documented: before we had “Mar-a-Lago face” – which exists to showcase the work, wealth and whiteness involved in being that polished, pumped and preserved – we had Instagram face, with a vocabulary of cookie-cutter features that made it difficult to distinguish one face from another.
But a parallel shift in men’s faces has been happening too – towards something more sculpted, managed and self-conscious. In recent years we’ve seen an explosion of grooming products, “gymfluencers”, body “hacks”, tombstone veneers – “Turkey teeth” in the UK, “Mexican teeth” in the US. Cosmetic surgery has entered the public arena for men, too, most publicly in 2021 with the designer Marc Jacobs’ facelift. “There is no shame in being vain,” Jacobs announced, uploading selfies that showed blood-filled drainage tubes flanking his bandaged head.
