In a strike against the promotion of harmful body ideals, TikTok has taken decisive action against a recent trend criticized for fostering negative body image among users. The social media giant has removed the widely controversial “legging legs” trend from its platform after a surge of complaints that it perpetuates a singular, unrealistic body type as being ideal.
Originating in the latter part of last year, the trend under the hashtag “legging legs” involved young individuals—predominantly girls—expressing concerns over not having “good” looking legs while wearing athletic leggings. This movement was met with significant opposition for its narrow portrayal of beauty standards and the potential impact on the mental health of easily influenced and vulnerable users.
Publications abroad have noted TikTok’s response to censor the hashtag, leading users searching for related videos to be directed towards information on eating disorders instead. The company reaffirms its commitment to maintaining a supportive, body-positive space, strictly opposing content that could be seen as glorifying or trivializing eating disorders.
The intervention has drawn support, particularly from older demographics who recognize the trend as a modern echo of toxic beauty standards from previous generations. Therapist Holly Essler has voiced her disapproval, describing the trend as “repulsing” and stressing the importance of dismantling such damaging ideals.
“Basically it’s a trend saying that if you have leggings and you wear leggings, your legs have to look a certain way in them,” she said in a video. “Again, this is disgusting. Do not let social media tell your body that it is a trend. If you have a body and you have leggings, you have legging legs.”
Another TikTok user, @emilyxpearl, questioned if “we understand what we are doing to the younger generation of women”.
