After yet another day of caffinated drinks, sweet treats and a distinct lack of anything beneifical to your body, it’s no wonder you’re left with a tummy ache. But what’s the deal here? Why does this seem to be something exclusive to Gen Z women, and is there something we should be worried about? Here’s some information on hot girl tummy issues, from the memes to the possible causes of your belly aches.
the memes
The discussion of hot girls and their stomach issues has been going on, mostly on TikTok, since around 2020. The memes cover every problem girlies have with their stomaches; pain after eating, pain from not eating, bizarre and worrying pooping habits, crazy bloating, IBS, and so so much more.
2020 marked a very interestings shift in the way people use social media. While plenty of people still curate their feeds to appear flawless, an increasing number of people started to use it as an outlet to connect with others on topics considered far too taboo in the past.
Some people may see the normalizing of stomach issues as a widespread health concern, but tons of girlies find comfort in knowing that it isn’t only them who have to rely on Miralax and Tums to not be in a ton of pain all day.
causes
There is no one cause to hot girl tummy issues, especially since hot girls cover all sorts of women, from college students to stay at home mamas. In a blog post by Dr. Will Cole, some of the proven reasons for women’s common stomach issues are dicussed, including:
- Structural differences in women’s bodies compared to men’s (like having different organs and how that impacts internal organ structure)
- Hormone fluctuations
- Women housing a more diverse microbiome than men
- Women having (generally) higher levels of emotional distress than men and the impact said distress has on digestion
- Women’s proactive approach to seeking medicial intervention
Some of the things that Dr. Cole recommends to help with stomach problems are getting your hormone levels tested, learning techniques to better manage stress, making changes to your diet, and finding a probiotic that is best suited to your needs.
These biological causes likely aren’t the only thing negatively impacting your belly, though. Taylor Richardson at the Fashion Journal talks about some of the gendered differences in how we’re supposed to handle and discuss digestive and bowel topics. Women are expected to be beautiful, pure creatures who can’t even fathom the concept of a bowel movement. But let’s be so real, women absolutely have some traumatizing poop stories they’ve been conditioned to keep to themselves while men are able to talk about their time in the bathroom however they please. Richardson finds that IBS absolutely is a hot girl issue, and the double-standards in how the world expects men and women to handle what goes down in the bathroom isn’t helping.
And finally, just when you may think everything has been covered, periods come in to take a jab at your gut. Period poops add a whole other level to this conversation that some of y’all aren’t ready for. During a period, your body releases hormones that make your uterus contract, which is how the lining you created in the past month is pushed out. Prostaglandins are the mean little guys that don’t really care to only stay in your reproductive system and eventually make their way to your stomach, causing the same contractions to occur in your tummy. These are the same things that cause labor in pregnant women, so no, you’re not overreacting to your period-enduced stomach ache.
should i be stressed?
I mean, a little! If your stomach problems are something that controls your daily life, it may not hurt to do some diet experiments and see if anything changes. No, it’s not easy, especially for all of us who looooove a sweat treat (or like, five). Start by removing just one thing from your diet, like sugary drinks or a specific dairy product, and see what happens.
Being in college makes diet changes super difficult for most of us, so also make sure you give yourself some grace. Even if you remove everything that upsets your tummy from your diet, schools typically opt for using cheaper oils and other cheap products that totally don’t help your body feel better.
Pooping is good, we all poop! Eating is good, we all eat! Stomach aches, not so good, but we all do get them from time to time. None of us, regardless of our gender, should be ashamed of discussing our tummy aches and the results of them, especially to medical professionals.
While many women just accept tummy issues as part of the hot girl lifestyle, there are steps you can take to make your stomach less angry all of the time. The first steps in this journey, though, are going to be research and medical intervention. Good luck on your journey to a happy tummy, hot girl!