I’ve wanted muscular arms for 20 years, but I’m not going to give in to the body shaming of ‘septum arms’

THIGH HOLES, muffin tops, ankles… these derogatory terms to describe our bodies have become part of our everyday language.

But the latest insult expressed on social media has shocked many women – including me.

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If you thought “bingo wings” was offensive, think again.

By 2024 you could have ‘septum arms’.

No, this has nothing to do with the cartilage in your nose.

It’s a term that has become popular on TikTok and means: “She looks good except for her arms”.

As a 42-year-old mother who has spent most of her adult life feeling insecure about this part of her body, this latest way to over-examine your limbs feels ridiculous.

Men like to joke that “when the sun shines, the guns are off.” But for the past two decades, I’ve been hiding my guns under sweaty sleeves, even during a heat wave.

I never had the long, slender limbs that I coveted in other women.

She looks good, except for her arms.

TikTok ‘Septum’ Arm Trend Explained

Also, I get more freckles when the sun is out. I feel a lot better about it now, but when I was growing up, they were nowhere near the girls on TV or in magazines.

Being a little insecure is part of growing up, as is fixating on so-called physical defects.

My arms were not as muscular and lean as the limbs I compared mine to.

I put on a sleeveless top and grimaced in the mirror when my arms weren’t the shade or tan I wanted.

Fat free biceps

Like many women of my generation, I was jealous of Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox’s perfectly toned arms as a child when I watched Friends in the 1990s.

Rachel and Monica regularly wore small, tight T-shirts that showed off their muscular, tanned and – most importantly – lean biceps.

The epitome of cool, girl group All Saints appeared on Top Of The Pops and MTV in low-cut cargo pants and barely-there black or white vests, revealing their fit limbs.

I had freckles and felt that my pale, but frankly normal, arms did not meet the beauty ideals around me.

I avoided sleeveless tops and dresses wherever I could and assumed a little self-loathing was part of it.

Lately I thought we as a society had moved on and entered an era of acceptance, but it seems like I blinked and the recent trend of body positivity was over.

Those feelings have always stayed with me.

The 1990s also saw the rise of heroin chic, followed by size zero in the noughties, where every inch had to be super thin.

This meant that when I chose a sleeveless wedding dress to get married in 2011, I felt obligated to hire a personal trainer for eight weeks to tone my upper arms. I also made sure to get a spray tan beforehand.

Even then I was fixated on how my arms looked in some of our wedding photos, which in retrospect is really sad because 13 years later I looked so amazing.

Lately I’ve been thinking that as a society we’ve moved on and entered an era of acceptance.

But it was like I blinked and the recent body positivity trend was suddenly over.

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Now we’re back to making unfair and unkind judgments about how people look, for the most ridiculous reasons.

This is not the first time that our weapons have been in the spotlight.

When Michelle Obama was newly appointed First Lady in 2009, much attention was paid to her muscular biceps and triceps.

When she wore those sleeveless pastel dresses at the White House, women around the world were dying to know how she got her upper arms in such tip-top condition.

In 2013, the American Association of Plastic Surgeons reported that the number of arm lift procedures in the U.S. had increased by more than 4,000 percent as women went to extreme measures to emulate Michelle’s arms.

There is even a patented procedure developed by American cosmetic surgeon Dr. Thomas Su called Celebrity Arms Lipo, which removes fat and sculpts this area.

Women of my generation and older often used to starve themselves or exercise to fit into a certain dress size.

But Michelle, now 60, recently revealed that the intense cardio workouts she used to do to maintain her toned muscles have given way to more gentle exercises since menopause, and her fitness goals have changed.

“I’m still physically active and my goal now is to, instead of ‘Michelle Obama arms,’ just keep moving,” she confessed.

Luckily, after twenty years of feeling ashamed about my arms, I’ve come to embrace Michelle’s attitude and try to focus on feeling healthy, rather than worrying about what others say about my appearance.

Now that I’m in my forties, the mantra of the last few years, “strong, not thin,” has struck a chord and I’m learning to pointless and cruel body shapes avoid the rules at a great distance.

Women of my generation and older often used to starve themselves or exercise to fit into a certain dress size.

Today we know much more about the importance of strength, bone density and the consequences to our health if we do not protect ourselves as we age.

Nowadays we are more aware of the fact that we need to eat enough protein and do strength training. Not to be able to wear a vest, but to prevent osteoporosis.

That means I’ve started exercising a bit more, not to look a certain way, but because I want to feel stronger as I enter middle age.

Maybe my arms got a little more muscular because of this, maybe not.

It’s beside the point.

I don’t think I’ve changed that much, but exercising regularly has given me more self-confidence.

Crushes the trust

So much so that for the first time I forgot I was wearing a sleeveless top when I walked into the school yard to pick up my sons, Will, ten, and James, eight, before the school year was over.

In the past the idea would have filled me with horror and I would have covered myself with a cardigan, because on a sunny day I would be unnecessarily warm.

It may not seem like a big deal, but for me it was of great importance.

I have come to the realization that enough is enough with the aversion to the poor.

I won’t get younger overnight, nor will I have the lean, muscular arms of Jennifer Aniston or Victoria Beckham.

Ladies, don’t waste your time worrying about a pointless, mean-spirited trend on social media.

I seriously doubt anyone is even looking at my arms.

The septum arm trend is mean and does nothing to help women focus on what’s important.

Instead, it crushes the trust we have built in ourselves over decades of shame damage.

Now that 90s and turn of the millennium fashions are back on the high street, I hope the obsession with thin bodies will soon fade away.

I want to be able to wear my sleeveless tops without shame and feel cool in the sun – whatever is left of it.

Ladies, don’t waste your time worrying about a pointless, mean-spirited trend on social media.

We all need to give the septum arms the elbow.

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