How are men really doing - that is the subtitle of the exhibition "Harder better faster stronger" at Fotografiska in Stockholm.
Jakob Ganslmeier and Ana Zibelnik are two of 30 artists examining the male ideal. They have delved into the digital culture of looksmaxing and mapped how innocent beauty advice leads to reactionary notions about men, women and white supremacy. The duo saw how the focus on “self-improvement” took off after the Covid pandemic, around 2020.
"We started to see parallels to fascist ideologies. The trends were not fascist per se, but the language and visual expressions were similar to what we know about fascists from our research," says Ana Zibelnik.
Right-wing extremist mainstream
The duo's video work "Bereitschaft" shows the visual world of look-alikes, and borrows its title from Hitler's favorite sculptor Arno Breker's statue of a naked warrior from 1939. It is one of many examples of how alt-right trends are becoming mainstream.
Imagine seeing young men comparing their jawbones to a fascist statue, it's odd, says Jakob Ganslmeier.
For a long time, the trends went under the radar - despite influencers like Andrew Tate getting millions of clicks. Around 2020, young men were hitting themselves in the face with hammers to get stronger jawbones. The trend died out, but media interest has given it a boost again, the duo believes.
Arno Breker himself said later that he had only wanted to celebrate the beauty of the human body.
It raises the question of aesthetics and politics and how they interact. When these types of bodies are celebrated again today, we can speculate about why, says Ana Zibelnik.
Forbidden fruit
Ganslmeier and Zibelnik don't believe that beauty and fitness trends lead to fascism. But they want to teach young people to read visual images. The duo shows how ideas are born and highlights the spectrum of radicalization.
You don't automatically adopt an ideology if you follow these trends, but in the visual world of social media, mainstream and radical ideas meet, says Ana Zibelnik.
Young people often understand the “forbidden fruits” of online language, the duo shows. For example, many images sneak in so-called dog whistles, codes that speak to the initiated. For example, “have a total joyful day - TJD” is an acronym for “have a total Jewish death.”
The young people are not actually neo-Nazis but share messages that are seen as "funny," says Zibelnik, and Ganslmeier takes over:
It quickly goes from looksmaxing to sigma, to TCC, to protecting Europe to defending Europe - then you disappear down the rabbit hole.
Sigma: A man who prioritizes strength over social affirmation. Lonely and independent. Role models are Patrick Bateman in “American Psycho” (played by Christian Bale) and Thomas Shelby in “Peaky Blinders” (played by Cillian Murphy).
TCC: True crime community. Social media movement that glorifies far-right terrorists and school shootings.
Mewing: A technique of pressing the tongue against the roof of your mouth to create a more defined jawline. No scientific evidence.
Dog whistle: Coded messages that appear empathetic and happy but are often code words for racist content. Used to get around moderated contexts and spread messages that a small circle understands to a wider group.
Nightcore: Electronic music genre that has been increasingly used on TikTok and Spotify since 2020. Is not racist per se but is often labeled as “Aryan classics”, with phrases like “millions must listen - billions even” - a so-called dog whistle for “billions must die”.
