Mogging / Facial Rating

Mogging is the practice of comparing two faces side-by-side to declare one objectively superior; PSL (PuaHate / Sluthate / Lookism) ratings score faces on a 1–10 scale. Teen boys post their own faces asking strangers to rate them, or are 'mogged' by classmates who post unflattering side-by-sides. Body Dysmorphic Disorder rates are rising in adolescent boys; mogging culture is one of the main accelerants.

PSL forums (Lookism, etc.), looksmaxxing subreddits, TikTok and Instagram side-by-side edits, Discord servers. School-specific mogging often runs in private Snapchat group chats.

PSL forums have existed since the early 2010s; the migration onto TikTok as 'mogging edits' (often set to dramatic music) took off around 2022.

• The rating culture treats faces as objectively comparable on quantifiable dimensions (canthal tilt, philtrum, gonial angle). Most of the dimensions are pseudo-science; some are real anatomical features that don't predict anything they're claimed to predict.
• A 'mog' between classmates often goes school-wide before parents know it happened.
• Asking 'what's your PSL?' or 'am I mogged?' is one of the clearest markers of a teen who's entered the ecosystem.

• Severe BDD onset; sustained low mood; school refusal in extreme cases.
• Cosmetic procedure requests at very young ages (mid-teens) based on PSL-style critiques.
• Suicidal ideation, particularly when mogging slides into blackpill fatalism.

• Don't argue with the rating. Argue with the framework: 'For whom? On what timeline? Compared to what?' The PSL framework collapses on serious questions.
• Watch for school-side mogging incidents — these often appear in the same anonymous-gossip pages you'd see elsewhere.
• BDD treats well with CBT in adolescents. Early referral to a clinician familiar with body dysmorphia is the best outcome predictor.

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