Could hot rodent men be the new male ideal?

Bababam (0:04)

Could Hot Rodent Men be the new male ideal?

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Society's beauty standards constantly evolve, and sometimes in surprising ways. Of late, the terms rodent man and hot rodent man have gone viral on TikTok, racking up millions of views, and the roots of those terms are pretty literal. They refer to men whose facial features are reminiscent of rodents like mice, rats or hamsters. I know it might not seem like the most flattering of comparisons to start with, but it seems like rodent men are genuinely becoming the latest kind of sex symbol. What does a rodent man look like then? Writing for Days Digital in May 2024, Serena Smith said rodent-handsome men are usually more svelte than muscular, with more pinched, angular features. They're often not conventionally handsome, but this only makes them more hot.

And this description came from New York Times journalist Gina Sherilis. An unconventional, mousy man with a toothy smile, and instead of a chiseled face like Brad Pitt or Chris Hemsworth, it's more pointy. It's important for their faces to be angular. That's the dead giveaway. That and big ears. They come off as edgy and elusive.

So it seems the rise of the rodent man marks a move away from typical male beauty standards. Embracing a less traditionally virile kind of masculinity. If you're still struggling to get it, don't worry, it took me a while too. Kieran Culkin, Tom Hiddleston, and Jeremy Allen White are a few examples of celebrities who the internet has agreed to label as rodent men. Where did the term come from? It actually started out shortly after the film Challengers was released earlier this year. The story is all about a love triangle centred around tennis, featuring actors Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor. They've come to be seen as archetypal rodent men, with social media users comparing them to Stuart Little and Roddy St. James from Flushed Away, respectively. Talk of rodent men on TikTok has followed on from buzz around golden retriever boyfriends, who are seen as kind and loyal, and baby girl men, who are sweet and vulnerable. After all, TikTok is always full of surprises, isn't it? Isn't calling someone a hot rodent man somewhat reductive? Well, indeed, you could see it that way, and that's where the phenomenon has become divisive. The term is obviously a little light-hearted, but it could be seen as reducing actors to their physical appearance, rather than recognizing their talent. However, going back to Serena Smith at Days Digital, she says being a sexy rat man can also be more about your general vibe than physical attributes. And another theory to come out of the New York Times' discussion of people finding rodent men hot, is that it might be a rejection of AI-generated images and Snapchat filters, with Stella Bugby saying if we are offered fake perfection, we will yearn for human imperfections. We want to see the vulnerability of an asymmetrical face. There you have it.

Now you know why hot rodent men are the new male ideal. In under three minutes, we answer your questions and help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. Listen along and you will really know for sure.