BEIJING, March 16 — If you think the “Belly Button Challenge” was utterly ridiculous, wait till you hear about the latest trend Chinese woman are attempting: It’s called “A4 Waist” and it involves women comparing their waist size to a sheet of A4 paper!
This bizarre social media trend according to The Sun UK involves women holding up the A4 paper, which has a width of just 21 centimetres, against the body to demonstrate that their waists are equal to or narrower than the width of the paper.
We just can’t seem to comprehend this insane trend, yet shockingly thousands of social media users have taken to China’s version of Twitter, Weibo, to share their snaps and comment about this fad.
Women have been showing their skinny credentials by tucking a piece of paper down the back of their jeans or skirt, insinuating that the slim waist fad is a healthy and attainable aim. One Weibo user went as far as to boast that “I’m a size smaller than A4. I’m A5”.
China has really been sending a worrying messages about body image by leaning on” the thinner you are the better you are” message which can open up a Pandora’s box of serious health complications.
The previous “Belly Button Challenge” saw thousands attempt the trend, which requires them to reach their arm over their backs to touch their belly buttons in the belief that it shows the sign of a fit physique.
That’s not all, according to the Daily Mail, there was another weird Internet obsession in January that had Chinese women taking pictures of themselves holding pens under their breasts in order to demonstrate their beauty.
When are we as a society going to put an end to such superficial definitions of beauty and stop pressurising women to try to reach an unachievable goal? We say, enough with this silly fads already, give it a break!
