Curvy Kate Says No To The #BellyButtonChallenge

You may have seen a disturbing social media trend this weekend: The #BellyButtonChallenge, but one lingerie retailer is fighting back: Curvy Kate. Encouraging women to attempt to wrap their arms behind their back to try and touch their belly button (and photograph the results), the Belly Button "Challenge" claims that this act is an adequate way to determine the health of the participant.

The problem is (well, one of the problems is) that the challenge isn't really clear on what aspects of your health it measures. Probably because it's sort of garbage, claiming a "scientific study from US" suffices as proof. But all the challenge really measures is whether you can awkwardly wrap your arms around your waist. A cool party trick? Sure! An adequate determination of one's health? Not so much.

U.K. based lingerie retailer Curvy Kate doesn't buy it either, and that's why it started an alternative hashtag "challenge" that might actually reveal something about your health: #BoobsOverBellyButtons. There is one way that touching a certain part of your body can benefit your life: A breast self-exam. "We want to encourage you guys to check your boobs and get to know what normal feels like… rather than doing these ridiculous body-shaming (and downright painful) demonstrations," the brand wrote on its blog.

Curvy Kate provided a link to directions on how to perform a breast self-exam and a few photos of its employees demonstrating the challenge for inspiration, encouraging readers and customers to join in. "So let’s share it! Let’s shame the body-shaming challenges (back at ya!) and love ourselves just the way we are."

It's worth noting, of course, that while a breast self exam should never replace regular doctor's visits or medical breast cancer screenings, familiarizing yourself with how your boobs look and feel never hurts.

So, yeah. I'll grab my boob over trying to contort and participate in some body-shaming challenge any day.

Images: Courtesty Curvy Kate