Oh The Times, They Are A-Changin’

Body shape trends are moving too quickly.

If I'm quite honest, I don't think body types and shapes should be trendy to begin with, but this is the world we live in, and we must all suffer because of it.

I remember when I was a child during the early 2000s, everybody wanted to be stick thin.

And when I say everyone, I mean even myself.

I can't tell you how many hours I've spent in front of the mirror poking at my belly and my thighs, wishing they would just magically become flatter and slimmer.

It seems like such a long and distant time ago, but I can distinctly recall looking at magazine covers and seeing celebrities with their ribs and pelvic bones poking through their skin. They were either being celebrated or put down for the way they looked, but that was what everyone wanted.

Just before the 2010s things started to shift.

Kim Kardashian burst onto the scene with her sex tape in 2007, and promptly became a major celebrity. In the years that followed, her body type (real or not) is what began to trend.

Before her, the only women who were ever celebrated for having rounder bums and curvier bodies were J-Lo, Beyoncé and Shakira. When I was younger, they were the epitome of the 'bootylicious' body, but it's not like that anymore.

Kardashian, being the ultimate influencer that she is, made having a big bum popular, whether we like it (and her) or not.

Since then, Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs) have become an absolute norm for celebrity and influencer culture across the pond, and it has equally affected trends around the world, too.

Everyone wants a big butt and a small waist, like an hourglass.

I kind of hate the idea of trending body types because we currently live in a time where there is little diversity in what is considered beautiful. Everybody seems to have the same face and the same body. It's very, very boring, but it seems to be what people want.

I also hate the idea that body types can trend, because it pushes the narrative that you have to change yourself constantly to be considered attractive or to meet mainstream beauty ideals.

Personally, I still feel the effects of growing up during the era of the stick- thin Paris Hiltons, Lindsay Lohans and Angelina Jolies. I still remember reading about anorexia and bulimia every single week in People.

I remember low-rise jeans, and I remember thinking I was too fat.

I'm still so greatly affected by it, even though I try not to let it dictate how I view and value myself, but since this poor self image is still so deeply ingrained, it makes me worry about the young girls and boys who are growing up today.

They are also bombarded with ideas of beauty that can be pretty hard to attain.

The pendulum seems to be swinging back in the celebrity world. The BBLs are being reduced, natural and athletic bodies are being celebrated more, and body positivity now includes not starving yourself.

I doubt we'll ever go back to the ultra skinny girl era, but the fact that these trends exist to begin with is worrying. Clothes, style and fashion should evolve, grow and change. Beauty ideals should be realistic and inclusive, but no one should feel pressured to alter who they are entirely to feel beautiful.

– Anne Hambuda is a poet, writer and social commentator from Windhoek, Namibia. Follow her online or email her at annehambuda@gmail.com for more.

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