News that Barry Keoghan is “hiding away” due to relentless face trolling about his appearance – and it is making him reconsider his future in acting – is just the latest reminder that the playing field when it comes to beauty standards for men and women is levelling out. Some people might think it’s about time that men are held to the same standards as women when it comes to their looks. I consider it more of an empty victory.
Following public scrutiny of Keoghan’s changing facial looks – including new plumped-up lips while sitting in the front row of the Burberry show at London Fashion Week in February, and a noticeably new, defined jawline and fuller cheeks on show at the Peaky Blinders premiere and at the Oscars, both a few weeks ago – he is struggling with the public criticism. The Oscar-nominated actor, 33, who is set to play Ringo Starr in the Sam Mendes Beatles biopic, told SiriusXM host Ben Harlum that the onslaught of online hate has left him to “really go inside myself, not want to attend places, not want to go outside”.
“There’s a lot of abuse of how I look, and it’s kind of past the point of, ‘everyone goes through that,’” said the Saltburn actor.
Men in Hollywood getting fillers has become increasingly normal, and I am not judging them for their aesthetic choices, even if the cheek fillers risk creating the dreaded “chipmunk cheeks”.
But what I cannot help but notice is that men like Keoghan, and Ryan Gosling – who was also noted for sporting a fuller face when he surprised Eva Mendes with an on-air celebration for her 52nd birthday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month – are all starting to look the same: more refreshed, angular, and ”chiselled”, with more volume in the mid-face area – and often, added designer lips.
Just like Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway and Gwyneth Paltrow, who had similar looks as they debuted the “new Hollywood face” at the Oscars – or Kris Jenner and Lauren Sanchez who looked indistinguishable at Vanity Fair’s Oscars party – these male stars also opt for a uniform, one size fits all tweakment protocol, that screams: “We all share the same plastic surgeon/aesthetics doctor.”
The overall effect looks less subtle for the men than it is for their female counterparts, partly because we are all so used to high-profile women having “tweakments” and partly because, when they do, they generally go for a more natural, “less is more” aesthetic.
Indeed, when Jim Carrey, 64, attended the 51st Cesar Awards earlier this month with puffy cheeks and a pumped-up, rounder and softer midface, fans went as far as to suggest that he had sent a body double to collect the award.
David Beckham’s “swollen face” on NBC’s Today Show in 2025 led to online speculation about potential overfilled cheeks. Simon Cowell admitted he had gone “too far” with facial fillers, and said that his son Eric had been “in hysterics” over photos of his dad’s tweakments.
Even Daniel Craig appeared at the Baftas in 2018 looking noticeably different from before, with fans speculating that he’d had Botox and/or fillers. The designer Marc Jacobswas up front about getting a facelift over Instagram in 2021 with the caption “#LiveLoveLift”.
The trouble with “Brotox” – and other cosmetic procedures in men – is that it perpetuates the belief that youth is all that matters. That’s obviously a lie that women have had to live with for decades – and a concept that is constantly drummed into us by the beauty and wellness industries.
And, now, increasing numbers of men are turning to the needle for cosmetic assistance to look more youthful. According to research last year, 23 per cent of men in the UK between 18 and 34 have had either Botox, fillers or dental veneers compared with 21 per cent of women of the same age. And face and neck lifts surged 26 per cent among UK men between 2024 and 2025, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
Another influence might be the so-called manosphere, in which boys and young men are increasingly pursuing cosmetic surgery as a way to “looksmax”, which entails maximising one’s own physical attractiveness, or as a way of “mogging” others by outshining them. All too often, it seems, this involves men physically altering their appearance to meet rigid, high-status masculine ideals.
The message being sent by some manosphere influencers is that “better” looks will help to achieve higher social status, romantic victories, and “sexual market value” (SMV). These things are often prescribed by the internet’s most famous “looksmaxxer”, Clavicular (real name Braden Peters), a 20-year-old who takes extreme measures to alter his looks using steroids, cosmetic surgery, and even taking a hammer to his jaw.
One of the popular claims in the manosphere is that 80 per cent of women are only attracted to the top 20 per cent of men (the “80/20 rule”). To move into the top tier to gain power, it seems that tweakments are being seen by many as an essential tool.
Influencers such as HSTikkyTokky – whom Louis Theroux interviewed in his recent documentary – coach guys on how “to be proper boys and not gimps that walk around in the modern world” – and that includes looking 100 per cent fit as if you spend your life pumping weights.
Male beauty standards now match women’s. The trend is shaped by gym culture, constant online visibility through social media, high-definition photography, work video meetings, and a growing awareness of how subtle tweakments can boost confidence.
The manosphere claims that 80 per cent of women are only attracted to the top 20 per cent of men (the ‘80/20 rule’). To move into the top tier to gain power, tweakments are seen by many as an essential tool
Underneath it all, though, is a deep pit of insecurity – and men who feel like they don’t measure up. This is particularly dangerous in adolescents who are vulnerable to the “teachings” of the manosphere.
But instead of booking in for Botox, perhaps it’s time for men to let their inner vulnerability out, as Keoghan has in his expression of his struggles. Following the success of Saltburn, Keoghan admitted to finding being in the spotlight suddenly “scary” and “overwhelming”, adding that it is a “different kind of life”; one he is not used to.
The pressure to look perfect is hard for anybody in the public eye. But cosmetic treatments are a slippery slope: a sharper jawline and trout pout won’t really change anything, and the danger is that nothing will ever be “enough”.
Men have succumbed to the pressure to have cosmetic surgery later than women. But perhaps a better approach is to do some inner work before reaching for the filler. After all, any meaningful happiness – and self-acceptance – comes from within.