Hot rodent men are changing beauty standards – an ANU expert explains how

It’s official: TikTok users have declared their love for a new kind of man. That’s right; we’re living through the year of the hot rodent boyfriend.

Confused? Let us explain.

The release of Luca Guadagnino’s film Challengers – starring Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor – has prompted the internet to go berserk for male celebrities that bear an uncanny resemblance to rats – minus the disease carrying and fighting over scraps.

The popularity of the rodent boyfriend is giving previous boyfriend archetypes a scurry for their money (goodbye, golden retrievers).         

These men tend to have lean physiques, scruffy hair, beady eyes and angular faces that come together in a way that people find attractive. Oh, and did we mention their perfectly pointy noses and large, playful ears?

Common examples of men in this category include Jeremy Allen White, Barry Keoghan, Matty Healy, Timothée Chalamet and even fictional characters such as Roddy from the 2006 film Flushed Away.  

But it’s not just their physical features that make these Hollywood heartthrobs so desirable.

Instead of projecting gym bro energy, these celebrities give off the impression of Disney-like gentleness – it’s easy to imagine that they know their way around a cheese platter and wouldn’t say no to a night in watching Ratatouille.

While the trend may seem harmless, Dr Alex Fisher, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership, says there are sexist and racial undertones to be aware of. 

“It speaks to longstanding gendered biases in Hollywood casting. Men in Hollywood have historically been given considerably more leeway in terms of their physical attributes whereas women have been pigeonholed into specific ideals of attractiveness,” Fisher says.

“Trends like ‘hot rodent boyfriend’ seems to expand the range of physical attributes that are considered attractive for men, whereas the trends for women tend to remain narrow and unrealistic.

“It is also interesting to consider the faces of these trends, and how more often than not, they are predominately white, which underscores the ways in which these trends are not only gendered but also racialised.”

But before you dust off your rat trap, there is also a positive side to this trend.

@theindy100 The era of “golden retriever” men is officially over, and now Gen-Z are allegedly on the lookout for “hot rodent boyfriends”. Think angular features and piercing eyes 👀 But is the trend problematic? Well, some say it plays into objectification and stereotyping, while others say it’s harmless fun. What do you think? #hotrodent #rodentmen #jeremyallenwhite #joshoconnor #challengers #dating #fyp #trending ♬ original sound – Indy100

In addition to shifting standards of attractiveness, the popularity of the rodent man personality is helping to normalise softer qualities. Research shows that men and women prefer traits like kindness in a prospective partner. 

“If we take this trend as a departure from traditional masculinity – which emphases characteristics like emotional stoicism, dominance, and self-resilience – we can see the appeal of the hot rodent boyfriend as someone who rejects those ideals and instead shifts the dial towards kindness and understanding,” Fisher says.

Like every trend, this one will come and go, but the rodent boyfriend craze highlights the importance of male role models that embody the spectrum of masculinity.

“Masculinity has traditionally been seen in a very narrow way which can itself be damaging, especially to young people in search of role models,” Fisher says.

“To the extent that the rat boyfriend trend signals a subtle shift away from traditional masculinity, or at least, an expansion of the traits and qualities that we associate with being masculine, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing.”