Can you touch your bellybutton(肚脐) by reaching behind your back and around your waist(腰)?
Popular among many young Chinese female users on Weibo, the topic — which translates as "reaching your belly button from behind to show your good figure" —was mentioned more than 130 million times among Weibo readers. It not only led to over 104,000 active discussions, but also brought about the care about what means a healthy body image.
"Look! Success. More than four hours but I've finally reached my bellybutton," said Weibo user GayleRabbit. Another user Lucy said, "Why does my bellybutton suddenly look and feel completely new?",
While the trend was popular with many female users on Weibo, a photo uploaded by a male blogger caught people's
eyes. "Is this pose really that difficult?I don't think so," said Weibo user Sough Sa. His photo showing he was trying to
touch his bellybutton drew 2,634 likes and was shared more than 8,452 times.
"I always support failures. Now I don't feel so bad about not being able to touch my bellybutton." said another user
Jacket. "Do we need to have flexible(柔韧的) arms or askinny waist to achieve it?" asked Weibo user Chantilly6 23.
But some experts argued that China's new bellybutton trend was actually distoring(歪曲) society's standards of beauty. "These poses and pictures can be fun but sometimes they also become an expression of competitiveness," said Jolene Tan,
Programmes and Communications Senior Manager at Aware, a non-governmental organization in Singapore championing women's rights.
However, experienced body trainers say the new trend is about flexibility of the arm and the size of the waist, rather than a good figure. A skinny person with fewer muscles(肌肉) has a better chance of achieving the pose.
