Kim Kardashian deleted a social media picture this week after fans accused her of Photoshopping her leg to make it appear slimmer.
On Jan. 25, the reality TV star promoted a swimsuit from her new Skims collection in a slideshow of photos on Instagram. But one snap appeared to have been poorly edited: It showed Kim's leg somewhat warped, which led to the accusations.
"Kim what happened to your leg?" one fan asked, according to Page Six, while another tweeted, "Kim, Kim, Kim… Your right leg is, uh…"
Kim quickly took down the photo, but she left up the other snaps associated with the post.
The mother of four has long faced accusations that she Photoshops her photos — she was even recently ridiculed for apparently editing niece True Thompson's face onto niece Stormi Webster's body following a trip to Disneyland. A majority of the time, though, Kim is accused of slightly changing her own appearance online with a digital nip-and-tuck.
The Photoshopping accusations come as a new study claims that "slim-thick" imagery online causes more body dissatisfaction amongst young women. The study conducted by Toronto's York University even mentions Kim and sister Kylie Jenner by name, alleging they, among others, are contributing to the uneasiness regarding women's body confidence.
Researchers describe the "slim-thick" physique as "a curvier or more full-body type, characterized by a small waist and flat stomach but large butt, breasts and thighs." The study insisted that a "slim-thick" physique is difficult to obtain naturally and claimed that alterations are often done to achieve this body image.
Body acceptance influencer Mik Zazon told the New York Post that the Kardashians, and others, are guilty of "manipulating authenticity," especially via social media.
Citing Kim's psoriasis outbreak from 2019, Mik said, "They're sharing photos that seem to be candid and effortless to show that they are human too, yet putting extreme filters on photos and videos to uphold their image. It's so easy to see something and believe that because [Kim's] showing her psoriasis, she can't be editing other parts of her body."
The "slim-thick" body ideal actually caused "more weight and appearance dissatisfaction" than the thinner imagery, the study found, adding, "The slim-thick ideal was most harmful to women's appearance, weight and overall body satisfaction. [It] may still represent an ideal of beauty that women find threatening and personally unattainable."