Even though Twitter’s existence constantly hangs in the balance, people still find a way to start discourse wars over tweets that shouldn’t have been tweeted in the first place. This week’s topic? Whether normal belly fat “ruins outfits.”
A Twitter user came under fire for tweeting a photo of a perfectly normal (and let’s be honest, tiny) belly in a bodycon skirt, saying, “this thing ruins outfits.”
He is, of course, referring to the fact that her belly isn’t perfectly flat in the photo. Now, I’m not sure what his goal was with this tweet.
Maybe he wanted to stir up some controversy for some engagement. Either way, controversy is what he got.
Many users defended the body fat, as it’s perfectly normal.
Others pointed out that they’re actually attracted to it.
“I’m convinced straight men don’t even like women,” one comment reads. “That belly is so [expletive] sexy.”
Another user quoted the tweet and insisted instead that “this thing changes LIVES!!!”
Some started theorizing reasons anyone would tweet something like this, and there’s a lot to unpack in some of these ideas.
“Many heterosexual men don't look for women who they're even actually attracted to, but rather women who they think will convey a high status to other men,” another Twitter user added to the conversation.
“So we end up in a situation where sexist beauty standards for women don't even reflect what men actually find attractive.”
A select few people with enviable amounts of patience have tried explaining that this is, in fact, what regular bodies look like. The phrase “chronically online” was coined in the recent years to reference thoughts, ideas, and opinions posted to the internet that lack a realistic perspective on what things are actually like.
The bright side to this post? It seems clearly evident that most of the users who responded disagree. So the verdict is officially in: Body fat? Normal. And as one user so poetically noted, historically battle-worthy.
