Is The ‘Belly Button Challenge,’ China’s New Trend, The Definition Of A Good Figure? [PHOTOS]

A strange new trend has overtaken young people in China — it’s referred to as the “Belly Button Challenge,” and it consists of people attempting to touch their belly buttons by twisting their arms behind their back. If you are one of the few who can accomplish this, it means you have a “good figure,” or so the trend claims.
The trend appears to have begun on Weibo, a social website in China, circulating mainly around young females. Translated from Chinese, the trend of “reaching your belly button from behind to show your good figure” was mentioned on Weibo over 130 million times, according to the BBC.


Here’s the thing: there is no scientific evidence, whatsoever, that states being able to reach your belly button from behind means you’re fit and healthy. In fact, it seems like the Belly Button challenge is just as destructive to the self-esteems of young women as “thigh gaps,” “thinspo,” and other trending topics that glorify overly-skinny figures. As always, images of tall, slender girls emphasize bony bodies rather than health.
One user’s Weibo page, however, turned the trend upside-down. A pudgy kid called Sough Sa uploaded his successful belly button photo, which received thousands of likes and comments like, “You go Buddha! Show the skinny girls how it’s done.”

It turned out that Sough Sa’s image might have been staged with the help of his friend’s hand, but either way he claims it was to make people feel better for not having skinny enough bodies to complete the challenge. Let's take his lesson to heart: Sough Sa's picture is more important than all the other girls' photos who glorify their under-100 pound figures. Sough Sa reminds us that touching your belly button backwards doesn't mean anything about your level of fitness, health, or physical attributes — aside from maybe that you're unusually flexible or are good at Photoshop.
@ItsSMTOWN The reason why Sehun did that pose ("Belly-button challenge") _ (cr: ohmydeer0420) pic.twitter.com/AQiy9OL7Is
- It's SMTOWN (@ItsSMTOWN) June 11, 2015
"Belly-button challenge" is trending in weibo. If you can reach your belly-button from behind, it means you have a good figure. _
- EXO FANBASE (@EXO_FANBASE) June 11, 2015
China's "belly selfies" joins "hand bigger than face" as newest way to prove you are an idiot http://t.co/fizGlzrX5S pic.twitter.com/VUMxwWIL62
- Patrick Lozada (@patrick_lozada) June 11, 2015