What are Septum Arms on TikTok?

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Learn how and why "septum arms" blew up online
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If “septum arms” seems like a nonsense phrase, that’s because it is! In July of 2024, TikTok’s blue text function created the term, and since then it’s taken the app by storm. It was quickly interpreted as an insult, mainly directed towards women, that calls people out for having a larger upper arm than forearm. While the phrase originally meant nothing, it’s taken on a new life in the body positivity community as people claim the term for themselves. Keep reading to uncover the secrets of “septum arms,” AI-generated blue text, and TikTok’s ever-changing linguistic landscape.

What are septum arms?

"Septum arms" is an insult that people use to describe a woman who's cute "except them arms" (implying that her arms are fat or unattractive). “Septum arms” was created after a comment with the word “septum” gained several thousand likes on an anti-body shaming video.

Section 1 of 3:

What does “septum arms” mean?

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  1. The implication is that the woman has fat or unattractive arms. The phrase “septum arms” was created by TikTok’s AI “blue text” search function at the top of a video by @orlandospeciality shaming people who criticize women’s bodies. TikTok’s quickly changing lingo made people speculate that it’s an insult for women with fat arms. [1]
    • The TikTok blue text algorithm highlights related words and phrases from video descriptions and comments that users may be interested in and makes them clickable links at the top of videos.
  2. A woman who is a “butter face” has an attractive body, but her face (butter face) is unattractive. With septum arms, someone is attractive, ‘cept them arms. [2]
    • “Did you go on a date with that girl last night?”
      “Yeah, but she was such a butter face. No wonder her profile didn’t have any good selfies.”
    • Some people think that “septum arms” refers to arms that are larger above the elbow than below, the triangle of skin that expands at the tricep when you rest your arm against your body, or just arms that are “ugly.”
    • “Vuvuzela arms” is a similar TikTok nonsense term created by TikToker @superkeara to comment on micro insecurities people pick up online. Unfortunately, like septum arms, people misinterpreted it as a real insult.
      • The term refers to arms that are thinner at the wrist than they are further up the forearm. The joke is that this is the shape of almost any person’s arm.
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Section 2 of 3:

Septum Arms Origins

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  1. In the original video (which has since been removed) TikTok user @orlandospeciality plays two characters; one mouths the phrase “Omg ew, bro look at her arms,” and the other looks at the first character in disgust and shakes his head “No.” [3] The video was captioned “This world is full of sick people.”
    • The video, which has been parodied and remade several times, uses the audio “Falling Down (Bonus Track)” by Lil Peep.
  2. TikTok user @daryldixonisaw commented “What if it’s someone with a septum?” which quickly gained over 27,000 likes. [4] TikTok’s algorithm highlights terms users may want to search and choose “septum arms” for this video.
    • @orlandospeciality has openly shown his distaste for septum piercings and made other videos with “Septum” in the title, so the algorithm was primed to think “septum” was a term that users would be interested in.
  3. On July 17th, 2024, TikToker @kirkiimad posted a parody video , using the text “Omg eww bro look at her septum arms🤢.” [5] On the same day, user @nuumuhuupi posted a video asking what the term meant, cementing the meme and starting the trend of trying to decipher the phrase.
    • Unlike the original video, the parodies all include the actual phrase, septum arms.
  4. Due to a growing movement of body shaming and “niche insecurities” on TikTok, people assumed that the phrase was an insult. Since negative attention aimed towards women’s bodies trends so often, people quickly jumped to the conclusion that “septum arms” was another trend. [6]
    • TikTok has gained a bad reputation when it comes to reflecting negative body images, which has in turn created a body positivity movement that plays into the very trends it tries to subvert. [7]
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Section 3 of 3:

Septum Arms and Body Positivity

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  1. Within the body positivity movement, there has been a push to reclaim terms, like fat, so that people have the ability to describe their bodies accurately without the social stigma of treating fact like insult. [8] In the case of septum arms, the movement more claimed the term than “reclaimed” it.
    • TikTokers like @steyrmiu have been criticizing this reclamation, saying that terms like “septum arms,” “hip dips,” and “legging legs” are terms created and popularized by the very women who are victimized by them.
  2. Women like TikTok @themeganrhiann have been making videos embracing the ways their arms look, showing off the ways their triceps fold onto their torsos, and celebrating their lumps, bumps, fat, and flab—all normal parts of our wonderful human bodies. [9]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/septum-arms
      2. ↑ https://youtu.be/FxJEhsIIZ6k?t=235
      3. ↑ ​​ https://youtu.be/zzLcC2f7C_s
      4. ↑ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/septum-arms
      5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P9Jn0gnzUsg
      6. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144523000852
      7. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144523000852
      8. ↑ https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/you-just-need-to-lose-weight-and-19-other-myths-about-fat-people-by-aubrey-gordon-extract
      9. ↑ https://www.tiktok.com/@themeganrhiann/video/7392630018158939424

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