How boob selfies became an awesome response to the #BellyButtonChallenge
Attention all body-shamers and thinspo fanatics: the tables have officially turned. No more belly button challenges for us. Nope. No way. Today, we’re doing the #BoobsOverBellyButton challenge, and we’re feeling mighty proud.
The latest in the “why is this even a thing” body trends is the #BellyButtonChallenge, which originated from the Chinese, Twitter-like site, Weibo. Supposedly, if you are able to reach your arm around your back and touch your belly button, you’re healthy, but it’s completely untrue and unsupported by any sort of research or data. Basically, it’s a made up thing.
As silly and arbitrary as these passing fads are, lingerie brand Curvy Kate has teamed up with breast cancer charity CoppaFeel to change the narrative of the belly button challenge into something body positive, and possibly life-saving for women.
They’ve created the #BoobsOverBellybutton movement to remind women that, “there are a heck of a lot more important things to be checking on your body than whether your arms are flexible enough to reach all the way around your own torso,” according to their site’s blog.
We’re down with Curvy Kate’s message—and so is social media, with legions of participants posing in their bras, copping a feel, in reaction to the Belly Button Challenge.
This belly button silliness is just the latest installment of ridiculous standards that suggest women’s bodies should look and perform a certain way. While standards are definitely shifting toward a more positive focus, we are still living firmly in a world where thin is aspirational.
Leah Shanks, body image campaigner, has similar opinions, and told Huffington Post, “It’s sad that being able to do the Belly Button Challenge is seen as some kind of achievement. It seems that social media has a tendency to push women to extremes, often towards a goal which is simply not attainable for them.”
The #BoobsOverBellybutton campaign hopes to shift this way of thinking in a new direction, as a way to, “encourage you guys to check your boobs and get to know what normal feels like…rather than doing these ridiculous body-shaming (and downright painful) demonstrations.”
Preach!
