‘Our ambition at Dove is for beauty to be a source of confidence, not anxiety. Lucy Attley, Dove Spokesperson who works on their self-esteem campaign, says: ‘The bikini bridge is yet another example of piling pressure on women to feel increasingly anxious about their bodies. Thus, #bikinibridge and #bikinibridge2014 was tweeted more than 2,400 times, with Harry Styles’s endorsement – which has since been deleted – receiving 115,359 favourites. ‘Bikini bridge’ Urban Dictionary describes as ‘when bikini bottoms are suspended between the two hip bones, causing a space between the bikini and the lower abdomen.’īuzzfeed has also posted an article entitled ’12 perks of having a bikini bridge’ with reasons such as ‘it is the ultimate beach accessory’, ‘Harry Styles will be 857 per cent more attracted to you’ and ‘you and your girls will become the talk of the town’.Īs a result, in just 24 hours, what began as a hoax has snowballed. But something like this shouldn’t be the benchmark for beauty. Don’t get us wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a fitness goal or striving to become a healthier person. Now impressionable young woman could possibly go to great and dangerous lengths to try and get the bikini bridge. The bikini bridge is now a mainstream thing. There are tags on Twitter for both sides of the issue, and look, we’re writing about it, too. There are now Tumblrs and Instagrams dedicated to either showcasing the bikini bridge or denouncing it. Then they sat back and watched the Internet explode.Īnd explode it did. They created propaganda in favor of the trend (fake celeb tweets supporting the bikini bridge, Buzzfeed lists, etc.) as well as propaganda against the trend. “This is a generation who has grown up with social media and at the same time, eating disorder figures have doubled.”Ī 4chan user decided they wanted to create a new body trend and attempt to make it go viral. We know this largely effects younger women and this is exactly who is using these sites,” she said.

“Social media creates competitiveness between other women. Louise Adams, a clinical psychologist who specializes in eating disorders and body image told The Sydney Morning Tribune that this is “just another example of the objectification of women and their bodies” and because of social media, it was too easy for the bikini bridge to become a trend. All it took was a fake Tumblr, screenshots of false tweets from celebrities like Harry Styles and Justin Bieber endorsing the bikini bridge, and lo and behold, it was an internet trend. The #bikinibridge ‘trend’ came out a few days ago when online forum 4chan decided to create a viral hoax about it. This is not another ‘thigh gap’ situation where women are encouraged to have unattainable body shapes thankfully it is an internet hoax. What is ‘bikini bridge’ trend? Where very thin women take pictures of the alliteratively named gap between their bikini and pelvic regions, and then tweet them out with the hashtag #bikinibridge? Well, if this is the first you’re hearing of it – don’t panic. Body image experts say it’s ‘horrendous thinspiration’. Blogs were launched for girls to post own shots and thousands have responded. Actually it began as a hoax but has now gone viral on social media. Bikini Bridge means when bikini bottoms are suspended between hip bones, causing a space between bikini and lower abdomen. ‘Bikini Bridge’ term which has been around since 2009, is circulating on social media now.

Fun bridge urban dictionary