#A4waistchallenge from China sets world on fire
Young girls in China started posting selfies holding A4 paper against their waist to show how thin they were & now the whole world is doing it.
SOCIAL MEDIA
#A4waistchallenge from China sets world on fire
The latest social media craze has arrived: "the A4 waist challenge"
It all started when young girls in China started posting selfies of themselves holding a piece of A4 paper against their waists to show how thin they were.
A4 paper is the white paper commonly used in photocopy machines.
The piece of white paper is placed over one's waistline, vertically covering the waist as a measure of how "paper thin" you are.
Only a 21cm or less waist will fit a piece of A4 paper.
Selfies are then posted to Twitter and Instagram with the hashtags #A4waist and #A4waistchallenge.
Self-esteem immediately follows, at least in theory, as netizens "like" and "share" your waist and praise the beauty of your waist's thinness
NOT EVERYONE AGREES
The challenge is described as a "fitness challenge" by the Chinese state newspaper People's Daily.
Unhealthy, unrealistic and "virtually impossible for most human beings" is the way others see the craze.
Waist size has been a frequent focal point for social media challenges.
Last year, China and the world was gripped by the "belly button challenge".
That challenge consisted of stretching your hand around your waist and "reaching your belly button from behind to show your good figure."
I accept the challenge #BellyButton pic.twitter.com/ZEfGyVWt3d
— PM โจ (@RealPatriciaMae) June 28, 2015
MAYBE NOT THE ROAD TO HEALTH & SELF-ESTEEM
As a blogger at the Huffington Post observes, nowadays "there is no such thing as pretty enough, skinny enough, sexy enough... Perfection is an illusion, a fake Barbie mirage... as super skinny photos whizz are around the web. How many of them will turn to diet pills, excessive sport, bulimia even?"
The #A4waistchallenge may not be the road to self-esteem:
"Psychologists have all proven that confidence comes from knowing yourself, and nurturing one's talents. Not from ones appearance. In fact spending time focussing on your looks - reading a magazine, surfing fashion on the Internet - actually reduces your self-esteem. Yet when you're doing something you love - riding a bike, solving a maths problem, playing netball, doing a presentation, writing a book, caring for a sick child...whatever it might be, that makes you feel good about yourself"(see here).
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35862281
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/britchick-paris/the-a4-waist-challenge_b_9516560.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/7003489/The-sick-A4-waist-trend-Dangerous-new-fad-encourages-girls-to-flaunt-tums-thinner-than-a-piece-of-paper.html
http://www.techinsider.io/what-is-a4-challenge-2016-3
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/a4-waist-challenge---new-trend-for-women-to-slim-down-to-thinner/
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