The other day, I saw a Yahoo! Style headline that declared “hip cleavages” as the new summer bikini trend. I thought instantly, “What is this? Is this like a thigh gap again?”
After seeing a couple of photos, it took me a minute to figure out what it was that several news outlets were pointing at. Revelist explains that it’s “what happens when you let your bathing suit (or intimates) rise up juuuust a little bit higher on the hips than it’s supposed to.”
Despite being labeled as “bizarre” by Yahoo! Style, this “trend” isn’t at all unusual. Again, I thought, “I have that. Many women have that. Why is it a trend?” A lot of women on the Internet have the same sentiments, especially when Sports Illustrated hinged on the hype by sharing photos of Ashley Graham.
Glad Sport Illustrated is finally getting on the thick thigh band wagon…"hip cleavage" has been in for years. Yall are LATE to the party. @ashleygraham you do your thing boo! #thickthighs https://t.co/rzZaubUBWx
— Claudia 🦋🌈☀️ (@thee_cw) May 22, 2018
tf is hip cleavage? oh now my rolls are “in” cause Sports Illustrated says so https://t.co/rcMOS3MqsO
— Christina D. Royster (@misschrisdee) May 21, 2018
Dear Sports Illustrated Swimsuit,
Women have had this "hip cleavage", that you call a trend, their whole lives. Fashion is a trend, this is not.
Sincerely,
Women https://t.co/AO2nouTFbp
— ♀️🕯𝒮𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝒲𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓀𝑒𝓎🕯♀️ (@SadisticWhiskey) May 21, 2018
But hip cleavages aren’t a new concept because it had a different name in 2016: “thighbrows.” Nonetheless, both aim to promote body positivity, especially among plus-sized women. Which also begs the question: Should something so natural, but sometimes unaccepted by society, be considered a trend like it’s an oddity in fashion and beauty?
The Daily Dot called this a “non-trend” and “another excuse to objectify women.” They also explained that we’ll just end up looking at conventionally attractive women who are accepted even if they show a bit of thigh or hip fat. “Much like the thigh gap, for so many bodies this isn’t a look that comes naturally. To tell women this is what they should strive for, that this is what it looks like to be hot and sexy, is just to play into these age-old tropes of the ‘bikini body’ that we’re trying to break away from in the first place.”
Also, if women like me knew that this asset would be given a catchy name so it’ll be accepted in society then maybe we wouldn’t be bullied or shamed for it. Believe me, I can’t count the times people have told me I looked fat in the past because of my thighs. Now that major outlets like Sports Illustrated—which is male-centric as well—are saying it’s “in,” hip cleavages and thigh rolls are now embraced.
We’re not saying that people shouldn’t flaunt a “hip cleavage” if they want to. Do and wear whatever’s comfortable for you. But remember that there’s a fine line between accepting something natural and doing it just for the fad.
Art by Marian Hukom
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