Men who resemble rodents – these are “Hot Rodent Men”

Beauty ideals
Man vs. Mouse: The classic pretty boy is put to the test

The comparison with a rodent is unlikely to dent Matty Healy's self-confidence.

The comparison with a rodent is unlikely to dent Matty Healy’s self-confidence.

© Paul R. Giunta/ / Picture Alliance

Hot young Hollywood men resemble rodents, the Internet finds – and proclaims the “Hot Rodent Men” trend. Is that already body shaming?

In the past, you would draw two dots, a line and a circle around it: a face was complete. Categories such as “beautiful” and “ugly” were not included. Today, that is no longer enough, because in a world where images rule, comparisons are not far away – and never too absurd. So it happened that some joker out there came up with the idea that young Hollywood men looked like rodents. A trend was born and it will continue – at least for the next 48 hours.

“Hot Rodent Men” is the new term that puts the classic pretty boy to the test. Because “hot rodent men” are more slim than muscle-bound. They do not have soft contours like Chris Hemsworth or the young Brad Pitt, but rather “angular” faces with larger, slightly protruding ears.

This is what lies behind the internet trend “Hot Rodent Men”

Representatives of this unconventional beauty are singer Matty Healy, actor Jeremy Allen White and the two “Challengers” stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faistaus. Whether Timothée Chalamet also has enough mouse attributes is debatable. Some see him more as a cat. And if he were still alive, Serge Gainsbourg would probably be the top rodent of the trend movement today.

Style editors of the New York Times recently discussed the new phenomenon in an article:

“Rodents are a much larger group than just mice, right? Wikipedia says that rodents include everything from beavers to capybaras.”

I wouldn’t put all the men being discussed online into the “Rodent Men” group. Johnny Depp? Kieran Culkin? That’s too broad.”

“I agree. But couldn’t Jesse Plemons pass as a beaver type?”

The readership doesn’t like this at all. There are already more than 6,000 comments under the post about the article, some of them very angry. There is talk of “dehumanization” and “body shaming”. Oh well.

Calling someone a mouse face is nothing more than a harmless joke when you consider that every square centimeter of the female body has its own established name: orange peel, fat knees, armpit fat, week (when the calf goes directly into the ankle). Marionette lines, crow’s feet, frown lines, naso-bial folds, bunny and barcode lines, not to forget: the turkey neck!

The “hot rodent trend” only shows how gracious society is with men’s flaws

While women are supposed to cover up with make-up, inject it and staple it up, the “hot rodent trend” only shows how gracious society is with men’s flaws. And that visual flaws only make them more interesting, even more lovable. A guy can take up half the pedestrian zone with his beer belly and is considered a “little bear”, while a woman with a little belly should definitely wear a corset (see Kim Kardashian’s “Skims” line). A woman with deep wrinkles on her forehead is also not considered “tough”, but a candidate for “baby Botox”.

So if extremely attractive actors like Josh O’Connor are said to resemble a rodent and are still considered “hot”, that is acceptable. Rémy from “Ratatouille”, Stuart Little, Fievel, the Mousewalker: One could be in worse company.

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