Men’s faces are under scrutiny as never before, with more opting for cosmetic procedures than ever. What is behind this sudden and significant shift?

The images are familiar: square-jawed white men, faces set hard, barking the language of strength and command. Over the past week, as the United States has pressed its military campaign in the Middle East, the face of defense secretary Pete Hegseth has appeared on screen after screen delivering the rhetoric of the warrior-patriarch. It is a face already known for other performances: posing in the gym alongside Robert F Kennedy Jr for the Department of War YouTube channel; lecturing the military about “fat generals”; hosting a weekend show on Fox News.

But here, borrowing the glory of the troops, Hegseth presented the general’s mask – the jutting jaw, the unflinching gaze – albeit without, some critics would suggest, the military experience or strategic judgment it usually signifies. Donald Trump, too, has offered his own version of the strongman face; the commanding presence, white and unyielding, though recently people have been rather more distracted by the new rash on his neck.