Instagram trends come and go so fast that it's hard to keep up. The latest trend on the social photo-sharing site is actually an old modeling trick that's taken on a new life.
"Barbie feet" is a way of posing that involves pointing your foot down to elongate the leg, in the same heel-ready style that Barbie dolls' plastic legs and feet are molded. The aim is to make your legs look slimmer and longer, as if you're wearing a pair of imaginary heels at all times.
Since this is an old showbiz trick, it's no surprise that a scroll through most popular celebrities' photos can result in finding Barbie feet. Now girls everywhere are trying out the form-flattering trick — and some medical professionals are concerned. It's no secret that the internet influences our perceptions of beauty in significant ways. The constant pressure to look "perfect" can lead girls to struggle with self-image or self-esteem issues.
Although Mattel has come leaps and bounds as far as making Barbie a more realistic interpretation of young women today, classic dolls mostly featured the leg style that inspired "Barbie feet."
It's no surprise that the Kardashian/Jenner clan and their model friends know exactly how to pull off Barbie feet.
You can find the pose in many of Chrissy Teigen's shots.
The trend is often used when barefoot to achieve the illusion of longer, leaner legs.
Also sometimes referred to as "Barbie toes," the pose typically works best on those who already have longer legs.
As younger girls start to pick up on the trend, medical and psychological professionals have expressed that this could be another dangerous trend.
You might remember another disturbing trend from a few years ago — thigh gaps. It had girls trying to attain (largely unattainable) gaps between their thighs when standing with their legs close together.
Instagram has since put a warning on #thighgap because of the dangerous behavior it encouraged. In the months following the thigh gap inception, young girls became obsessed with attaining thigh gaps, and it became incorporated into many pro-eating disorder platforms on the internet.
Experts are concerned that Barbie feet can lead to a similar problem, leading girls to believe that their legs are bigger than they "should" be.
It does seem that many of the women looking to execute the pose are using other strategies to make their photos look as close to those of a professional model as possible, which makes Barbie feet just one of many issues.
Most grown women think of it as just another silly thing to do on your next girls' outing. While that may be true, it still bears considering how all of these "beauty" trends might affect the younger generations.
One commenter claims dancers are actually to thank for the pose, and that once it's drilled in, it becomes a habit.
Certainly, maintaining the pose for an extended period of time can result in catching a nasty cramp, but just like wearing heels, it can do long-term damage when held for too long.
Those who can't help but walk this way have a few words of advice: The pain is not worth the likes.
We encourage young girls to be silly and have fun and love themselves unapologetically. Let's hope they can see the sillier side of things and recognize their worth in a world that too often undermines it.
