'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.
Subscribe to 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."
Tan also suggests the arrival of the even smaller iPhone SE could spark more worrying "beauty tests" in the future.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish caves
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performer
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published