March 18, 2016
The Horrifying "A4 Challenge" Is So Bizarre, You Won't Believe It's Actually A Thing
As if there isn't already enough pressure on women to conform to ridiculous rigid beauty standards, a new social media trend is catching fire in China.
The "A4 Challenge" encourages women to see if their waists are smaller than a sheet of A4 paper. Women who meet the challenge then post a selfie with the paper on social media with the hashtage #A4waist.
Right out the gate, this is a ridiculous challenge because the final image depends entirely on perspective. If you hold the sheet of paper farther away from your body, you are more likely to be able to hide behind it.
This trend began, not unlike last year's Belly Button Challenge, on the Chinese social media site, Weibo but it is gaining global attention.
Whether we want to admit it or not, social media can have a huge impact on self-esteem, making this challenge rather frightening. “The A4 challenge does nothing to promote health and fitness but instead encourages young girls to evaluate themselves by their measurements and appearance," says Rivkie Baum, editor of plus size magazine SLiNK. “Being the size of an A4 piece of paper is not an accurate way to depict or assess health and perhaps it is time for social media to crack down on these types of irreverent campaigns that harm the young women that are so hooked on them.”
The thing is, these tends get traction on social media but they don't necessarily 'start' there. Someone, a real flesh and blood human being, had to come up with this idea first and that's the part that's frightening.
Our bodies are different. Our bodies are diverse. We are not all meant to fit behind a sheet of paper. No one should be made to feel inferior for not being able to fit behind an 8 inch wide piece of stationary! Are there some women with waists that tiny, sure, but as a beauty standard, it is too rigid to really take off in a major way.
Can we all agree to ignore this 'trend' and celebrate our bodies as they are? There is no perfect body, there is no perfect size. If you want to get fit and toned, you can clean up your diet and start a regular workout routine, but you probably shouldn't measure your progress with a sheet of paper.
What do you think of this trend? Is it cause for legit concern or just a ridiculous fad that will disappear as quickly as it appeared?
Source: Huffington Post
Right out the gate, this is a ridiculous challenge because the final image depends entirely on perspective. If you hold the sheet of paper farther away from your body, you are more likely to be able to hide behind it.
This trend began, not unlike last year's Belly Button Challenge, on the Chinese social media site, Weibo but it is gaining global attention.
Whether we want to admit it or not, social media can have a huge impact on self-esteem, making this challenge rather frightening. “The A4 challenge does nothing to promote health and fitness but instead encourages young girls to evaluate themselves by their measurements and appearance," says Rivkie Baum, editor of plus size magazine SLiNK. “Being the size of an A4 piece of paper is not an accurate way to depict or assess health and perhaps it is time for social media to crack down on these types of irreverent campaigns that harm the young women that are so hooked on them.”
The thing is, these tends get traction on social media but they don't necessarily 'start' there. Someone, a real flesh and blood human being, had to come up with this idea first and that's the part that's frightening.
Our bodies are different. Our bodies are diverse. We are not all meant to fit behind a sheet of paper. No one should be made to feel inferior for not being able to fit behind an 8 inch wide piece of stationary! Are there some women with waists that tiny, sure, but as a beauty standard, it is too rigid to really take off in a major way.
Can we all agree to ignore this 'trend' and celebrate our bodies as they are? There is no perfect body, there is no perfect size. If you want to get fit and toned, you can clean up your diet and start a regular workout routine, but you probably shouldn't measure your progress with a sheet of paper.
What do you think of this trend? Is it cause for legit concern or just a ridiculous fad that will disappear as quickly as it appeared?
Source: Huffington Post