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Sinead Butler
Jul 22, 2024
What are septum arms?
TikTok/thegirlwiththelatte, ehalst, and rians.nightmare
If you've been scrolling on your TikTok FYP lately, then you may have come across the term "septum arms" - but what exactly does this mean and how did it gain virality?
"Septum arms" is a slang term used to refer to someone's arms, and as with any term coined on the internet, there has been a debate as to what the term really means.
The term first came about from a comment under a TikTok video by @orlandospeciality criticising people who make fun of women's arms, according to Know Your Meme.
Under the video, one user commented about septum piercings, this resulted in the promotion of the recommended search term under the video as "septum arms" by TikTok AI.
@tammy.pdf stop making up insecurities 😭 #fyp #septumarm #hipdip
In the following days, many users created videos speculating what "septum arms" could be, which led some to think that it meant chubby arms, or specifically a person’s arms that are larger above the elbow than below.
Though concerningly, some believed it related to arms with self-harm scars.
But these appear to be a misinterpretation since according to The Daily Dot, it was used to make fun of septum piercings.
Discussion in the comments concluded that the phrase "septum arms" is meaningless.
Despite all the confusion, all this attention on "septum arms" has led women to create a body positivity movement as women who have interpreted the word to mean chubby arms have reclaimed it.
TikToker Heather @heyheathera wrote in her video: "I survived the 90s, I won't let the internet convince to hate my very normal arms now."
@thatbohomom This is the first summer. I’m confident enough to show off my arms and Ill be dang if i let it be ruined by some immature bs. Let’s lift each other up instead of giving each other more complexes. 👏🏻 #bodyneutrality #septumarms #bodypositivity #midsizeootd #midsizefashion #midsizestyle #plussizefashion #plussizeootd
"Knowing I have septum arms and still showing them off because who cares about people who judge other people's bodies anyway," creator Johanna @thatbohomom wrote.
So next time you see septum arms being mentioned, you know how it came about.
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