Kendall And Kylie Jenner-Inspired “Yacht Shoulders” Spark Warnings From Experts

The internet is once again trying to keep up with the Kardashians and their ever-evolving beauty standards. This time, it’s all about “yacht shoulders,” a new trend that Kendall and Kylie Jenner’s Instagram posts have contributed to.

Just when we thought beauty standards couldn’t get more unrealistic, a new trend has emerged from the depths of social media. “Yacht shoulders" is the latest craze that some netizens are obsessed with.

The new craze received attention after the Jenner sisters recently posted glamorous photos from their vacation on the Spanish Island of Mallorca.

Yacht shoulders refer to the slender, defined shoulders and prominent collarbones showcased by the reality TV stars in their recent vacation photos.

The trend is pushing women to strive for yet another beauty ideal.

A number of TikTokers have shared videos in recent weeks, capturing themselves working out and trying to chisel their upper body to have the same yacht shoulders.

“I call them rich girl shoulders,” one social media user commented on a shoulder-aimed workout posted by TikToker @protekphilippe.

“Arm and shoulder beauty standards is insane HUH,” another said, while a third comment wrote, “Girl they use LIPO TO SCULPT THEM. Not a single drop of muscle is what formed those shoulders.”

Experts have expressed concerns over fixating on such high beauty standards.

"Like many of the trends the Kardashian family has sparked, the yacht-shoulders trend promotes unhealthy and unrealistic expectations of women's bodies," Psychotherapist Cina Hoey told Newsweek.

"There is a subtle but powerful mixture of shame and desire that is sparked immediately upon viewing a photo of a flawless celebrity," Cina went on to say. "Here's how it usually goes: you see the picture; you feel envy; that envy quickly turns to shame about your own body, which turns into some kind of desire to change your body.”

The psychotherapist explained that these desires of wanting to change the body could lead to extreme diets and unhealthy relationships with food.

“What happens next is usually some unbalanced approach to getting these results quickly; harsh diets or workout routines, restrictive eating, and unhealthy relationships with food and your body,” she told the outlet. “Once your unbalanced attempts fail (they always do), you blame yourself instead of the celebrity preying on your insecurities.”

Psychologist Mona Hansen echoed the sentiment about social media trends having harmful effects.

"A large amount of research investigating the effects of social-media trends on behavior and well-being shows social media can produce harmful effects," the London-based psychologist told the outlet.

Online trends are especially concerning because they can have a long-lasting impact on teenagers and young adults.

A study has found that reducing social media usage by about 50% for a few weeks could significantly improve how teens and young adults feel about their bodies and appearances.

“Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of body image issues, eating disorders and mental illness,” said lead author Gary Goldfield, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

“Youth are spending, on average, between six to eight hours per day on screens, much of it on social media. Social media can expose users to hundreds or even thousands of images and photos every day, including those of celebrities and fashion or fitness models, which we know leads to an internalization of beauty ideals that are unattainable for almost everyone, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with body weight and shape,” Gary continued.

One Gen Zer revealed that she regretted getting a boob job done in 2021 when she was just 21 years old.

“When I got my boobs done, the beauty trend was all about having the Kardashian look — big boobs and a big butt,” the woman named Alyssa McKay told the New York Post in 2023.

“I wish I would have waited and thought about whether surgery was something I really wanted to do,” she added. “Or if I just thought I needed a certain look.”