'iPhone 6 legs' criticised for promoting unhealthy body image
New social media trend sees Chinese women using smartphones to display the width of their knees
First it was pieces of A4 paper to obscure their tiny waists, now Chinese women are using their iPhones to highlight the slenderness of their knees.
The "iPhone 6 legs" trend on the Chinese social media site Weibo shows hundreds of photos of women using their mobile phone to cover their knees.
These so-called "beauty tests" have been widely criticised, with many saying they promote unhealthy body images.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"These everyday trends bore me," the website What's on Weibo quotes one user as saying. "Your standard of beauty is not healthy."
Similar "challenges" that have gone viral on Chinese social media include women competing to hold the most coins on their collarbone as well as attempting to reach around their waist to touch their belly button with the back of their hand.
The effect on their social media behaviour is noticeable, says iRead, a popular media source on Weibo. "One no longer has the courage to post to their friends if one does not have the right body lines," it says.
"It is unclear whether the challenge calls for an iPhone 6 or the bigger iPhone 6 Plus," says Alicia Tan on Mashable. "However, the growing popularity of yet another beauty meme is concerning for the unhealthy body image it encourages in women."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tan also suggests the arrival of the even smaller iPhone SE could spark more worrying "beauty tests" in the future.
-
Political cartoons for November 27Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include giving thanks, speaking American, and more
-
We Did OK, Kid: Anthony Hopkins’ candid memoir is a ‘page-turner’The Week Recommends The 87-year-old recounts his journey from ‘hopeless’ student to Oscar-winning actor
-
The Mushroom Tapes: a compelling deep dive into the trial that gripped AustraliaThe Week Recommends Acclaimed authors team up for a ‘sensitive and insightful’ examination of what led a seemingly ordinary woman to poison four people
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish