Women wear waist trainers, use slimming teas, go on rigorous diets, exercise and go under the knife to have a thin waist.
Women have been obsessed with thin waists way before this century. In the Victorian age (1820-1914), white (Caucasian) women wore corsets that look like what is sold in the markets today as waist trainers.
The tight corsets they wore pushed their breasts forward and gave them thinner waists. Dresses were not worn without corsets fastened to their belly. You looked like a peasant to Victorian women if you went out without a corset.
African women have always been thick and that was never an issue. However, colonialization came with the emulation of the way colonialists dressed and a pursuit of their standards of beauty.
So why do women wear waist trainers?
To feel good
Looking good feels good. A perfectly thin waist is more joy and pleasure than any pain to get it.
The perfect body type perpetuated by social media, influencers, actors and celebrities make women thrive for that coke bottle body and that can't be had without a thin waist.
Surprisingly, not everyone likes a thin flat waist. Nnamdi, a young man of 28 believes that "If her body is thick, I do not mind a big belly. I guess skinny men are attracted to women with flesh."
Ultimately, women want a thin waist because they feel it makes them look younger and sexier.
To please their partners
A woman body changes after childbirth. Sometimes her husband might make her feel bad about her big belly or she becomes less attractive to him.
Cynthia a mother of two says, "My husband is always making me feel bad about my big stomach. He is always encouraging me to exercise and makes fun of how big my stomach has become."
Better fitting clothes
Esther, a mother of 1 child says; "Women want to feel sexy and young that's why they want to have a thin waist. Plus clothes fit better if you have a slimmer waist"
Many people believe that a big belly showing when you wear any outfit doesn't look good at all and they would do anything to hide it.