Men engaging in extreme beautification trends ('looksmaxing') often focus on traits that other men find formidable, such as a strong jawline. This intrasexual competition strategy may not align with what women actually find most attractive, which can be a slightly more feminized face on a masculine body.

Men have fewer socially acceptable ways to enhance their attractiveness compared to women, making female judgment based on looks seem "unfair." This has fostered a cultural myth that women don't care about men's appearances, reframing a natural response as a shallow choice.

Men's pursuit of extreme muscularity and masculinized features is often a failure of cross-sex mind reading. They are coding for formidability and respect from other men, whereas research suggests women often prefer a more neutral or even slightly feminized face combined with a masculinized body.

The popularity of less physically imposing, 'anime character' male aesthetics is a mating strategy for a post-#MeToo era. It signals non-threat and safety to young women who are increasingly risk-averse, positioning the man as a 'cuddly teddy bear' who couldn't be coercive even if he wanted to.

In relationships, men often try to signal safety by taming their primal edge and becoming overly docile. This "over-domestication," however, is counterproductive. It collapses sexual polarity and removes the very intensity and ferocity that is a core component of masculine attraction, ultimately harming the relationship.

Men often admire extremely lean physiques in other men because they represent a high-status signal of discipline and difficulty. This creates a perception gap, as women may view the same physique as less formidable or as a sign of an unhealthy obsession with looks.

Women's preference for less lean, slightly "softer" male physiques may be an evolutionary adaptation. This physique signals "formidability"—the ability to win a fight and protect—which is valued over the aesthetic of being extremely "shredded."

Men consistently overestimate the level of muscularity women find attractive. This can be viewed through an error management framework: from an evolutionary standpoint, the fitness cost of being perceived as insufficiently strong is far greater than the cost of being perceived as too muscular.

Research indicates women's ideal male body fat percentage is around 13-15%, which is lean but not "shredded." This contrasts with the bodybuilding ideal of sub-10% body fat, suggesting men's aesthetic goals are misaligned with female preferences.