Here’s the real reason why women have this little dog

When it comes to anatomy — particularly female anatomy — perhaps no part of the body has confused the Internet more than the belly dog.

Every time someone posts about fat women, it tends to move around their midsection – and a strange number of people TO DO post about this – others are quick to say that “it’s not the fat, it’s the uterus”.

Take, for example, in early 2024, when a man posted a few photos of the dog on random women and declared, “On behalf of all men, we hate this.” »

The post blew up and the man was rightly ridiculed for his stupid, sweeping statement. Many men love the dog and fought for it: “(We) never allowed that clown to speak on our behalf,” one guy replied. Women also reacted: “In the name of women, we don’t care. »

But as usual, when these things are published, many people chimed in to let the man know he was misinformed: “It’s literally our uterus. Learn human anatomy,” one woman said.

“Stomach fat is literally the uterus (or womb)” is a popular and persistent claim: in 2020, health influencer and dietitian Colleen Christensen posted an image on her No Food Rules Instagram account reassuring her subscribers “that (the) bump at the bottom of your belly is your uterus.

Christensen shared how frustrated she was about not being able to have a flat stomach until a friend put her at ease by explaining that “that bump is organs.”

As Christensen quickly learned in his comments section, that’s not really the case: Internal Organs TO DO take up space in your body, but the uterus – a thick-walled hollow organ where the fetus develops during pregnancy – is located in the female pelvis, between the bladder and rectum, not in the stomach. (To Christensen’s credit, she later updated her post with more information for her followers.)

Dr. Lisa Erlanger, clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, explained more to us in an email interview: “The bony part contains the uterus and ovaries,” a- she declared. “The hips are wider and angled differently in women, which naturally gives a different appearance, but the uterus is not usually found in what we think of as the belly.”

We also need many other body structures in this region, said Dr. Stephanie Trentacoste McNally, director of OB-GYN services at the Katz Institute for Women’s Health.

“In this part of our anatomy there are many layers, from skin to fascia – which are the strong tissues that hold you together – muscles, nerves, blood vessels, connective tissue and fat,” she explained to HuffPost.

But basically, your uterus doesn’t contribute to a visible bulge unless you’re pregnant, postpartum, or have a tumor. Uterine fibroids, for example, can cause the uterus to become enlarged, leading to a visible bulge.

“The uterus is at least the size of a fist and can be larger with medical problems like fibroids and endometriosis, and the ovaries can have benign cysts taking up space,” Erlanger explained.

That said, different stages of the menstrual cycle can affect digestion and fluid balance, which can change the appearance of the body, especially the abdomen, according to Erlanger.

If you’ve had surgery, the skin can heal in a way that also creates a dog, Trentacoste McNally said: For example, about 30 percent of all babies in the United States are born by cesarean section and the scar from that procedure can pull the skin and create a different shape at the abdominal level.

Bottom line: you don’t need to justify the dog.

The rush to explain belly fat – “It’s not fat; This is actually something useful! – shows how uncomfortable we are with body fat in general. The fact is that it is completely normal for women to have more fatty tissue in the stomach area than men.

“Under the influence of the ovaries, the body generally has a higher body fat percentage,” Erlanger said. “It is believed that this serves to protect reproduction.”

During menopause, belly fat is thought to protect bones, mood, sexual function and even brain and heart health by continuing to produce small amounts of estrogen, she explained.

Either way, there’s nothing wrong with belly fat just being belly fat.

“People without a uterus also have bags on their stomach, and the back of my arm has fat, and there’s no uterus there,” Erlanger said.

Weight fluctuations throughout our lives are very common and, in general, it is healthier to live according to the size and shape of your body than to try to make it smaller or make it differently, he said. -she added.

Ultimately, according to our doctors? It’s not okay to have a dog because there’s a uterus there. It’s just normal to have a dog on your stomach.

“Having compassion for ourselves for having a body and committing to caring for them as they are in a way that meets our individual values, goals and circumstances is truly part of the journey,” said Erlanger. This article was originally published on HuffPost.