What is ‘Brotox’ that is becoming popular among men?

The number of men getting cosmetic treatments has been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with the release of Greta Gerwig’s movie Barbie, men in the United Kingdom, inspired by Ryan Gosling’s Ken, are reportedly inquiring about cosmetic and aesthetic procedures to look like the male doll. While previously it was mostly women who felt pressurised to appear younger and held up to certain beauty standards, now even men are judged on the basis of their looks. According to Fortune magazine, Botox is one of the most sought-after cosmetic procedures among men. It is jokingly dubbed as ‘Brotox’. Let’s take a look at the ‘Brotox boom’. Rise in demand for Brotox Brotox, which was earlier famous among older men, is now being preferred by Gen Z as stigmas around groomed men vanish. As per the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) report in 2020, the demand for cosmetic surgery and non-surgical aesthetic procedures among men rose by 29 per cent between 2000 and 2018, reported MM+M Magazine.

Since 2020, botox treatments among men have seen a 400 per cent increase, as per ASPS.

Between 2000 and 2020, buttock lifts and cheek implants recorded the highest surge of 1,616 per cent and 644 per cent, respectively, among men. Lip augmentations and laser skin resurfacing were also popular treatments among men, MM+M Magazine reported citing ASPS. [caption id=“attachment_12974412” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Since 2020, botox treatments among men have seen a 400 per cent increase, as per ASPS. Freepik (Representational Image)[/caption] In the UK, the grooming market is estimated to be worth £500 million, as per a Metro.co.uk report_._ Men are now inquiring about “Barbie-inspired” beauty treatments, the report added. What’s behind this Brotox broom? An expert says that Gen Z males are “more aware now than ever” about their physical appearance. “There has been a huge surge in Brotox treatment from Gen Z males having “glow up” injections”, Shelly Woods, advanced aesthetics practitioner and founder of Skin Techniques, told Metro.co.uk. Men have taken to TikTok to share their experiences after treating their fine lines and wrinkles. Many videos show men telling the viewers how Botox smoothed over their forehead creases. Getting nose fillers is also a common Brotox trend on the short-form video platform. “For Gen Z, Botox has become another way to personalise the way they look – it’s now treated like a haircut or hair colour. I’m seeing this in clients more and more. As the trends change, young people are the ones leading those trends on platforms like TikTok and influencing the new standard”, Woods explained. As per Dr George Pope, a plastic surgeon in Orlando city in US’ Florida, men visit his facility for Botox, laser skin resurfacing, laser hair removal, and facial fillers, reported FOX 35 Orlando. Men are also getting comfortable opting for nose jobs, eyelid surgery, and male breast reduction, Dr Pope added. But why is this happening? According to Cynthia Elliott, owner and primary practitioner at cosmetic surgery clinic Skinspirations, Brotox trend has gained popularity as the stigma around men getting cosmetic surgery diminishes. “The stigma of vanity surrounding cosmetic procedures for men has evaporated,” Elliott told MM+M Magazine. “Minimally invasive treatments with little downtime and natural-looking results give men the same benefits women have enjoyed for decades – enhanced self-esteem, confidence and sociability.” Dr David Shafer, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City, told Fortune magazine, “Guys, male-identifying patients are just as likely to want to look their best as their counterparts”. “As in-office treatments like Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm fillers have become more readily available, and spoken about, they have also become more mainstream through social media.” Speaking to New York Times in 2016, Alfonso Diaz, host of the international television channel Nuestra Tele, credited the American TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy for helping heterosexual men be “OK” with getting cosmetic procedures. The TV show “made looking good and caring about yourself acceptable to everyone, which has helped heterosexual men be OK with getting these procedures. And women want their husbands to look as good as they do, so looking good has become a competition”, Diaz said. Earlier men who were getting married, especially those at an older age, frequented beauty salons or medical facilities for Brotox. With the rise in video calls for work amid the pandemic, other men also started focusing on their looks. [caption id=“attachment_12974422” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] With the rise in video calls amid the pandemic, men started focusing on their looks. Pixabay (Representational Image)[/caption] “The ‘Zoom effect’ is a phenomenon brought on by the pandemic whereby people working from home saw themselves more frequently on camera and started to notice things that made them look more aged,” Dr Bruce Hermann, a board-certified plastic surgeon, was quoted as saying by HuffPost. Speaking to NYT in 2016, Miles Groth, a professor of psychology, said that now there is “pressure” on men, just like women, to present their best-looking selves. “For a very long time, emphasis was placed on what a man did, not how he looked, while women were judged on the opposite”. “We’ve gone away from that,” Groth added. “Today there’s as much pressure on men to look good and take care of themselves as there is on women.” Brotox is here to stay, say experts. As per plastic surgeon Hermann’s prediction, the number of men getting Botox will “increase slightly each year”, reported HuffPost.  With inputs from agencies