Self-Maxxing: Skip the Mogging Craze

Social media has never had a greater influence on how we perceive ourselves and others. Trends developed online start small, but can snowball into destructive avalanches. At first glance, mogging seems harmless. For example, mewing, the method of bringing one's tongue to the roof of the mouth to reshape facial features, results in a sharper jawline. A much more controversial mogging method is bone smashing. This involves bludgeoning the face in the hopes of stimulating bone growth. Imagine how desperate you would have to be to break your face and believe your life would improve. Setting aside that broken bones won't heal evenly and therefore the promise of acquiring symmetry is unrealistic, this demonstrates the downward spiral of feeling like the only thing that matters is how you look. While this is dark, the concepts of black pilling and nihilism push this idea to its limits. These two terms refer to the belief that nothing matters … at all. In the case of mogging, nothing except your looks matter. There are people, such as the mogging influencer Clavicular, who promote an entire lifestyle based on prioritizing the superficial. 

The emphasis on superficiality is degrading to men and women. Young men should take notice. Young women have long suffered from unrealistic body image expectations. There is no need to repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past.

The average Hopkins student works hard, cares deeply about their grades, and participates in at least one sport. Expectations are high, from our teachers, family, friends,  and ourselves. But those expectations revolve around achievement based on our whole selves, acting on our beliefs, our values, our ability to learn and adapt, our ability to be compassionate, to think, to express who we are as individuals. Mogging reduces us to nothing more than birds of paradise, who only seek to elicit responses from others. The only difference is instead of showing off our genetic programing, we would be following the instructions of a random self-appointed ticktock guru. 

When we try to elevate our physical appearance solely for the sake of attracting attention, we turn away from ourselves. You should feel good about yourself because you’re realizing your sense of style. You should feel good about yourself for taking charge of your health and fitness for your own reasons and goals. Our personal choices should originate from a place of personal autonomy. 

Walking outside with friends, gaming, playing with a pet, reading a book, and sitting with your hopes and dreams nurture your mind and body. Where does this fit into a mogging mindset? There’s only so much time in the day, or should I say, there’s only so much time to be who you are. How many of your dreams are focused on others’ views of how your body should look?

When we approach physical fitness or have an idea of how we want to look, we should have no other purpose than being true to ourselves. As Mark Twain said, “comparison is the thief of joy.”