A new craze in China that led to women posing with A4 pieces of paper to demonstrate how thin they are has been criticised and mocked on social media.
The hashtag #A4Waist has had more than 110 million views and more than 100,000 comments on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.
In several posts, women triumphantly posted images of themselves behind a vertical piece of A4 – their waist not visible on either side.
“Let me show mine too!” said one poster, who had no trouble conforming to the demand. “Does this count as an A4 waist?” she asked.
Even government organisations joined in, with verified police forces’ accounts posting photos of female employees holding A4 sheets bearing information on how to prevent identity theft, or admonitions against drink-driving.
The craze was termed a “fitness challenge” by the official People’s Daily newspaper on its Twitter account.
However, social media users around the world were quick to criticise the trend.
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