Kim Kardashian's hourglass figure is more harmful for women's body image than Kate Moss' thin frame, a new study claims.
Researchers in Canada showed women Instagram photos of either ‘slim-thick', 'thin' or ‘fit-ideal’ body types.
Slim-thick or 'hourglass', as seen in Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Beyoncé, is characterised by 'a large butt and thighs and small waist and flat stomach'.
Meanwhile, 'thin' describes slender shapes with flat stomachs and small waists, like Kate Moss, and 'fit' describes more toned and athletic female physiques.
The researchers found women exposed to 'slim-thick' photos experienced more dissatisfaction towards their own weight and appearance.
It's thought that women with 'slim-thick' bodies have become far more prevalent in Western culture in the last few years, partly thanks to social media.,
But the pressure felt by young women to attain such a physique could be even more harmful than pressure in society to be ultra-thin.
Kim Kardashian (pictured) is an example of a woman with the 'slim-thick' or 'hourglass' body ideal - which researchers say is 'characterized by a large butt and thighs and small waist and flat stomach'
Kylie Jenner (pictured here in Beverly Hills, California in February 2020) is another example of a woman with a 'slim-thick' ideal
The new study was conducted by Sarah McComb and Jennifer Mills, two researchers at York University in Toronto, Canada.
'Cultural trends in Western media have recently shifted towards a curvier body type called slim-thick, which is characterized by a large butt and thighs and small waist and flat stomach,' they say in their paper.
'Heavier models with a large butt and thighs do not offer a healthier or more realistic body ideal than the "fit" or "thin" ideals, but may actually be the most harmful type of body-ideal to women’s body image based on the current findings.'
Much of the previous research into body image has examined the impact of the ‘thin-ideal’ on women’s body image – the ideally slim female body image like Kate Moss.
British model Kate Moss (pictured here in Paris in January 2021) has a 'thin' body ideal. Thin-ideal imagery of women’s bodies is ubiquitous in mainstream media
To learn more about the effects of 'slim-think', the researchers recruited 402 female undergraduate students, all between the ages of 18 and 25 years.
The women were either shown photos of women on Instagram with the three different body ideals ('slim-thick', 'thin' or ‘fit-ideal') or were placed into a control condition.
Participants in the control condition were asked to view 13 images sourced from attractive home décor and furniture pages.
'These images were chosen because they were thought to reflect non-body related content that female users would be likely to view on Instagram,' they team say.
Meanwhile, participants shown one of the three body ideals were asked to compare themselves to the images.
Examples of slim-thick body types presented to the female participants for this study
SLIM-THICK: Characterised by 'a large butt and thighs and small waist and flat stomach'. The slim-thick body physique portrays an hour-glass figure.
Examples of 'slim-thick' women include Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Beyoncé Knowles.
The researchers say: 'While the slim-thick-ideal may just be gaining popularity in white-centred media, it is not new among other ethnic communities, such as Latino and Black communities'
Examples of 'thin' body types presented to the female participants. This ideal has been dominant in Western media for years but seems to be getting usurped by the curvier 'slim-thick' ideal
THIN: Very
