Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

Kardashian body image worse for women than ultra-slim – study

Kardashian body image worse for women than ultra-slim – study

‘Heroin chic’ look has given way to ‘slim-thick’ ideal, triggering women’s insecurities

Women exposed to the popular ‘slim-thick’ ideal epitomized by reality star Kim Kardashian and her sisters are more insecure about their own bodies than those exposed to the ‘heroin chic’ ultra-slim look of the 1990s, a York University study set to be published next month in the journal Body Image has found.

The test subjects were 402 female undergraduate students aged 18 to 25 – the prime demographic for Instagram. They were exposed to photos of influencers with each of the three body type ideals, and then asked to evaluate themselves. Comparing themselves to the ‘slim-thick’ Kardashian look, which researchers described as “characterized by a large butt and thighs and small waist and flat stomach,” made women feel more insecure than comparing themselves to the ‘thin’ ideal or a more athletic ‘fit’ look, the researchers found.

The results suggest that the reigning physical ideal represented by the ubiquitous reality stars may be more damaging to women’s body image than the slender look that until recently dominated runway shows and fashion shoots. As the researchers pointed out, while women might subject themselves to strict or even harmful diets in an effort to attain the ‘heroin chic’ look, or spend hours at the gym struggling to achieve the toned ‘fit’ ideal, striving for the slim-thick body type might lead them to the plastic surgeon’s office instead.

Altering one’s shape to reflect the exaggerated hourglass figure seen in photos of the Kardashian sisters and their ilk is all but impossible even with targeted exercises. While clothing brands have stepped into the breach offering ‘shapewear’ to create the flat stomach and prodigious backside currently in vogue, once the clothes are removed, the illusion disappears.

Women attempting to achieve any ideal body type would be wise to keep in mind that the photos they see in magazines or even on stars’ Instagram accounts are heavily retouched, researcher Sarah McComb told Yahoo Canada earlier this week. Indeed, the Kardashian clan has become notorious for over-airbrushing their social media content, leaving fans to spot the ‘Photoshop fails’.

As high-end retouching software has become available to the average consumer, Instagram influencers emulating their reality star role models have made increasingly unrealistic modifications to their appearance in their quest for ‘likes’ and commercial deals. The result is a sometimes shocking gap between what the average woman actually looks like and her appearance on social media. Naive young women looking at these photos experience feelings of inadequacy when they don’t realize they are looking at a synthetic product.

Ironically, this distortion has unfolded at the same time as the ‘body positivity’ movement seeks to relieve appearance-based pressure on heavier women, with magazines like Cosmopolitan featuring obese women like plus-size model Tess Holliday on their covers in an effort to more closely represent the average American female – 42.4% of whom were obese as of 2018. However, even larger models are photoshopped, their cellulite and other blemishes made to disappear just like on their slimmer sisters.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×