Bodies Aren't Trends

Diet culture will always be rebranding with the same unattainable standards but written in a different font.

Here we go once again. It seems that every single day, diet culture wakes up and chooses violence. Every single day there is a new way to make people feel shitty about themselves and therefore want to spend money to improve or fix whatever is “wrong.” Imagine a world where insecurities weren’t taken advantage of by society. Imagine a world where insecurities weren’t contrived by society, so they could, therefore, prey on individuals for profit. Can you imagine a world like that? Yeah, me neither. 

You are probably wondering what I’m ranting and raving about. Well, folks, a new trend has taken over (mostly on TikTok) called “Legging legs.” Yes, legging legs, as in the leggings that many of us wear in order to exercise comfortably or lounge around the house comfortably. Yes, diet culture has apparently deemed a certain body worthy of donning such attire. Legging legs are described as having “toned” legs with a thigh gap present. In other words, this is just another way to demand unattainable thinness from society.

Legging legs… here we go once again.

Unfortunately, noting body trends over the years is not a new concept. Beauty standards have always changed with the times and are just ways to keep (mostly women) spending money in order to be considered desirable. Here are some through the years:

1920s - thin with “no curves” or the flapper girls look 

1950s - fuller bust and hips, à la Marilyn Monroe 

1980s - the athletic figure, and I always think of the Jane Fonda workout videos 

1990s - waif thin, AKA heroin chic, and supermodel Kate Moss comes to mind 

2010s - dramatic hourglass like Kim Kardashian or Nicki Minaj

2020s - around 2021 or so, the Brazilian butt lift (BBL), a surgery where fat from the belly, hips, lower back, or thighs is transferred to the buttocks. In other words, a big butt was popular.

Bodies as “trends” over the years.

We are, of course, still in the 2020s, but we are entering a new “body trend” already. When I talk of food, or health, I can’t help but notice the elitism of it all. I say this because the health or wellness products that are popular or considered “the best” are often the ones that are extremely expensive and not accessible to the masses. Many people would never admit this, but there are folks who enjoy something being unattainable because there is a feeling of superiority. Sure, you can purchase the protein powder that is sold at a discount at Target, but you can also purchase one from the health store in a wealthy neighborhood that not everyone can access or afford. These powders contain the same ingredients, but guess which one will be raved about and talked about as “the best?” I notice the similarity with bodies as well. The BBL was popularized by many wealthy celebrities, and none of us can say for sure who definitely has had what procedure done, but we can look at whose body has changed drastically and guess. I saw a post on social media that stated many celebrities were removing their surgical procedures because too many “common folks” were getting them, and it was becoming too accessible. I have to say, as wild as it sounds, I can see the point in this.

I want to do a face palm from this title.

All this is really is a new trend in thinness. We are always told to be thin by society, and there are different types of thin, but the default will always be thin. Body diversity be damned. We can even look at how the body positivity messaging and popularity have plummeted since a couple of years ago. Many of us are getting back into our pre-Covid (and yes, Covid is still around) routines of social gatherings and working at offices again, and many have succumbed to feeling the need to “get their bodies back.” So, no, I am not surprised by “legging legs” and the desire to achieve a thigh gap in order to prove thinness now. Diet culture has called, and unfortunately, many are answering.

No good can come from this. None. As a dietitian who is weight-inclusive and also a self-described all foods fit dietitian, I can already feel my body tensing, knowing that this will bring on more eating disorders, disordered eating, and orthorexia. The impact that social media has on body image is no surprise. Do I blame social media fully? Absolutely not, because, again, diet culture has a will and will always find a way. However, social media has an impact. Teens and young adults who reduced their social media use by 50% for just a few weeks saw improvement in how they felt about both their weight and their overall appearance compared with peers who maintained consistent levels of social media use, according to research from the American Psychological Association. This isn’t surprising, considering social media apps are filled with images of seemingly perfect faces and bodies we constantly view because many of us use our phones daily (and probably hourly). These photos and videos often use filters and/or photo editing tools to enhance appearance, but they still have an effect on us. This can create unrealistic beauty and body standards, leading to body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem in all demographics.

Eating disorders are continuing to rise. Approximately 24 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, and they are among the deadliest mental illnesses, second only to opioid addiction, resulting in approximately 10,200 deaths each year. The body trends should be taken seriously because they can have deadly consequences. One thing I will say is that I notice more and more creators and folks talking about this on social media and saying “absolutely no” to this unattainable goal of thinness. Many are realizing the unhealthy consequences and are calling it out for what it is. I don’t even want to call this a trend because a trend is something like certain clothing styles or colors that are popular for some time. A body is not a trend. Our bodies are breathing and moving forms. They should not be regulated as a trend for us to partake in.

We cannot be carbon copies of each other. Body diversity is here to stay, and I’m not just talking about different forms of thin. I want to say legging legs are whenever your legs are donning a pair of leggings, but we need to go deeper than this. We need to start calling out the dangers of bullshit like this because now it’s legging legs, and next week, it will be something new. Diet culture is always rebranding and disguising itself. We can actively say no and put our feet down. Having a body is hard enough because they are so needy. We have to feed them and clothe them, so we have our plates full from being human already. Let’s call out diet culture and fatphobia for exactly what it is. Predatory and dangerous.