'Ab Crack' Is The Fitness Trend No Woman Needs

Another day, another trend putting body image pressure on women.

Forget about "thigh gaps" because there's a new, even more ridiculous trend putting body image pressure on women.

According to Elle, showing off your "ab crack", aka the vertical crease that appears if you have a flat stomach, is the "new core look" this season.

"Ab cracks show us you've been in the gym. We get it. We're very impressed," the magazine adds.

But not everyone is pleased to see women's bodies being scrutinised.

Elle

Rivkie Baum, editor of plus size magazine SLiNK said she wishes she'd never heard of an ab crack.

"As summer holidays creep ever closer and women already feel the pressure from media and advertising to be so called ‘beach ready’, this just adds another layer of pressure as it is once again very much focussed around the media construct of having a ‘bikini body'," she told The Huffington Post UK.

"It is sad that as we live in an age where social media plays an ever bigger part in our lives that it is consistently used to add pressure to women.

"As some of the biggest consumers of image based social platforms it is likely that this trend willth have a further detrimental effect on many women’s already fragile body confidence."

The trend has also outraged many people on Twitter, with some suggesting it could lead to women "starving themselves" to seek approval.

Previously commenting on body image trends, Rebecca Field, head of communications at eating disorders charity Beat, told HuffPost UK they can negatively impact vulnerable women.

“While social media cannot be the sole cause of an eating disorder, body image and low self-esteem are key factors in the development of eating disorders, and social and cultural pressures are strong in this area,” she said.

Let's hope the ab crack trend disappears as fast as it arrived.

Serena Willliams

Our Body Image Heroes

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