‘Ribcage bragging’: The new body image trend replacing the ‘thigh gap’

It's nothing but unrealistic and damaging

Just days after France banned unhealthily thin models as part of a new law targeting “unrealistic body images”, yet another dangerous social media campaign putting undue body image pressures on women has come to light.

We’ve had the thigh gap, the bikini bridge and even the a4 paper craze, but this latest thinspiration trend could be the most worrying yet.

Branded as ‘ribcage bragging’ by the Daily Mail, a raft of models, singers and social media influencers are taking to Instagram to share images of their proudly protruding ribcages.

It's a trend which many are concerned is adding to the overwhelming message that extreme weight loss is good.

First came the thigh gap; a campaign which saw young girls and women posting thigh-gap selfies on social media to prove that the tops of their legs didn’t touch.

Then came the bikini bridge; a trend which involved lying down and taking a picture of the space between your bikini bottoms and your hip bones.

Here, the bigger the space between your thighs or the more your hips jutted out equated to how good you looked, and the same goes for ‘ribcage bragging.’

With stars like Bella Hadid, Rita Ora, Nicole Sherzinger and Kourtney Kardashian all posting bikini clad images that proudly show off their prominent rib cages, concerns are growing that the ‘cult of skinny’ is being taken to a new low.

But, isn’t it about time they paused to consider the message that these images communicate?

After all, these are women who inspire, they are icons followed by millions of young girls and women who seek to imitate their flawless appearance.

A specific body ideal which, in most instances is nothing but unrealistic and damaging.