#VictimWeight: A fleeting trend that transpired into more

It only took a couple of drinks one Friday night to start sharing the rants about my physique as a female. In the kitchen with my four male roommates, I talked to them about how I am just a “big girl.” I’m built taller, wider, and heavier. In a way, I was insecure about it, I was just 10 lbs away from being the same weight as my boyfriend. After my three-minute rant, my roommate interrupted me and said, “Elle shut up. You should be proud. You’re not victim weight. Your boyfriend is.” 

As you’re reading that sentence, you’re probably asking the same questions I had when my roommate made that comment. 

I laughed at him and politely asked, “What is that, it sounds like it’s not something I want to be associated with in any regard.” 

It turns out that it’s a social media trend that has evolved into a social media culture. #VictimWeight was a trend tailored towards men, saying that if you are under a certain weight, as a male, that makes you “victim weight.” 

It was a trend that critiqued body standards by labeling men under 200 lbs as “victims” of unrealistic body ideals. It started with men, but the concept quickly resonated with women, promoting the idea of strength, not weight. 

It became part of social media, squashing past the social media culture of “dad bods” and “skinny fat.” In my opinion, it was a fleeting micro trend that lasted for about 2 months, but the idea of victim weight transpired from being tailored to only men, to also females.

The hashtag seemed fleeting or only impacting male-dominant communities, like the Army, but I noticed other trends shifting into other large communities on social media. I graduated college and suddenly my feed was flooding with girls who got into marathon running and CrossFit. #crossfitgirl and #runnergirl were hashtags that became the tracer for this trend. 

Men and women alike weren’t just showing their cocktail hours anymore, but rather showing off their run club meet-ups and their Strava history on their Instagram stories. 

#VictimWeight was the first trend I heard of, but after my roommate explained to me what it was, I noticed so many more trends on social media that had the same underlying message. There is a new social media trend that revolves around being strong and fit, not skinny and petite. 

Dots began connecting and I saw more and more females on social media, with amazing biceps and huge quads, than I had ever seen before. I didn’t hear about #VictimWeight until last winter, but I never realized how pivotal its message was… until the Paris Olympics. 

Ilona Maher is a female American Rugby player, who secured a Bronze medal at the Paris Olympics for the U.S. in Rugby sevens. She became an influencer for this trend of strong and fit women. I believe she jump-started the social media trend of not being the “ideal built female,” and changed the game for how women can embrace their bodies, even if it doesn’t align with the traditional feminine body ideals. 

Maher is a 5’ 10”, 200 lbs female athlete who is breaking barriers for the body image culture. She went from facing scrutiny on how “manly” she looks to becoming so praised, that she won a spot on Dancing with the Stars… and the crowd loved her. 

Maher wore a 2 piece bikini for Sports Illustrated Magazine, showing off her built quads and broad shoulders - and it’s become the picture of embracing one’s body strength and capabilities rather than the size itself. 

Influencers like Ilona Maher have helped reshape the body narrative, showing that everyone should embrace their bodies for what they are and not what some cultural trends say they “should be.” I believe women are finally seeing a pivotal change in the body image culture, and it began with the evolution of trends like #VictimWeight. What began as a critique of body standards has grown into a larger movement that celebrates strength, capability, and confidence overweight or size.