New standards for masculinity are stacked against men’s health

September 10, 2026 Victoria Song

Cialis, Medication Produced By Eli Lilly & Co To Treat Erectile Dysfunction, Acts In The Same Way As Viagra: By Blocking Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Pde 5, An Enzyme Which Normally Limits The Blood Flow To The Penis And Relaxes The Muscles Reponsible For Erection. (Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)

This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they're going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here.

Whenever the algorithm serves up a steaming pile of looksmaxxing, I flash back to an old sketch from That Mitchell and Webb Look. An ordinary woman is told by a commercial narrator that she's "leaking, hairy, aging, overweight, and everything hurts." Women, the smug narrator says, for god's sake, sort yourselves out by buying roughly $300 of products. After a jump cut, an average man is told to shave and get drunk, guitars blari …

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