Rib contouring surgery promises a smaller waist. But here’s what this trend really tells us

Canberra, Rib contouring – a cosmetic procedure aimed at creating a smaller, more defined waist – is one of the newer appearance trends on social media.

Influencers are sharing their experiences online, bringing a procedure many of us had probably never heard of into our social media feeds.

As a clinical psychologist specialising in body image and eating disorders, what interests me is not only this procedure, but what it tells us about the way our ideas about appearance develop in the first place.

Rib contouring involves fracturing, then repositioning, the lower ribs to alter the appearance of the waist. Ribs are not removed.

This is part of the broader trend of "looksmaxxing", essentially trying to maximise your physical attractiveness. This might involve changing your hair, skincare or exercise routine, but can extend to cosmetic procedures and surgery.

While rib contouring might be new-ish, wanting a tiny waist certainly isn't. Women have been encouraged to change their silhouette for centuries. Think of corsets designed to cinch the waist, or the hourglass figure associated with 1950s stars such as Marilyn Monroe.

The fashionable body has changed over time, but the message that women should work on their appearance is hardly new.

What social media has done is bring those messages to us more often and make new trends in appearance travel incredibly quickly.

Being exposed to social media content about ideals of what we should look like is linked to believing in these ideals, anxiety about your appearance, and considering cosmetic surgery.

Influencers add something different to the mix because they can seem much more like us than traditional celebrities.

On social media, we watch them get dressed, exercise and eat. They talk to us from their bedrooms and kitchens. When someone we follow changes their appearance, it can make doing the same seem more normal and achievable.

Social media content that focuses on our appearance also invites us to compare our appearance to other people's.

For instance, engagement with beauty content on social media has been linked with people comparing themselves with those they think look better than them, and a greater consideration of cosmetic surgery.

Often this comparison is subtle. We see somebody else's waist and suddenly notice our own. A feature we had never given much thought to can become something we inspect.