Lesson Topics: male culture, beauty, influencers
Skill Focus: Speaking, Vocabulary, Listening, Writing
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: looksmaxxing-upper-intermediate-042026.docx
Lesson Overview:
- Students first warm up with questions about appearance and attractiveness.
- The lesson has two inputs. The first is a short introductory passage about looksmaxxing, a trend popular among men that focuses on maximizing appearance. The passage mentions its benefits and risks. Next, students view a short (3:47m) YouTube video that contains seven "looksmaxxing secrets." The video is rich in vocabulary and should be engaging for younger audiences.
- The video is followed by comprehension and follow-up questions.
- Next, students review phrases from the video and match key vocabulary to definitions. Once complete, students use some of the new vocabulary to complete discussion questions.
- The first speaking activity is a roleplay between a teenage son and a mother who is worried about her son's unusual beauty practices.
- This is followed by a devil's advocate activity in which students must argue for and against three appearance-related statements.
- After four famous quotations, students then review vocabulary and the lesson's collocations.
- Finally, the lesson ends with a few final discussion questions.
UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson on Looksmaxxing
Warm-up Questions
- In what way has your appearance affected your life?
- Have you ever changed your appearance to look more attractive? What did you do?
- What makes a man or woman attractive? List some traits for each.
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. Claude was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension questions:
1) Subjective, but should include: Looksmaxxing is a trend mainly among young men that started in online communities in the 2010s. The goal is to maximize physical appearance through techniques ranging from simple self-improvement to more extreme measures. Experts warn of mental health risks and links to misogyny and racism.
2) Subjective/discussion.
3) Young men develop negative feelings about their appearance that they didn't have before entering the community. It has been linked to incel culture, racist beauty standards, and dangerous or unproven health advice.
4) Subjective, but students might note: looksmaxxing communities are predominantly male and often exist in spaces where women are viewed primarily as judges of male attractiveness. This can breed resentment toward women, or frame female approval as the ultimate goal of self-improvement.
5) Because face fat hides the cheekbones and jawline, giving a round, puffy appearance. No haircut or skincare routine can compensate for this.
6) Start a calorie deficit, do weight training and cardio, and cut out junk food and sugar.
7) A cleanser, a moisturizer, and sunscreen.
8) Just as makeup enhances a woman's appearance, a good haircut dramatically changes how a man looks — it's one of the most impactful and noticeable things a man can do to improve his appearance.
9) Subjective/discussion.
Vocabulary answer key: a-shortsighted, b-shallow, c-extreme measures, d-vanity, e-implications, f-obscure, g-flawed, h-optimize, i-take sth to the extreme, j-misogyny, k-mainstream, l-affiliated
Collocation Review: Passage 1-d, 2-a, 3-e, 4-b, 5-c
Collocation Review: Video 1-d, 2-i, 3-a, 4-f, 5-e, 6-h, 7-b, 8-g, 9-c
[1] It’s unclear whether bone-smashing is an inside joke in the community or a real practice among looksmaxxers.