New crazy 'beauty' standard: the thigh gap!

[Soldier of the One]

Huffpost describes the phenomenon, which admittedly, has been around for longer:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-g ... 47646.html

The 'thigh gap' is the visible space between women's things (when one locks their knees together) if the woman in question has (extremely) slender thighs. It's an aesthetic popularized by supermodels and celebrities which has now filtered down into popular culture. There are (many?) young girls - especially the cohort that wears leggings, mini-skirts and skinny jeans, hence accentuating their thighs - who aspire to achieve the look through (extreme) dieting.

Needless to say, this is an unattainable goal for most women. Thighs is were we store fat. Our thighs - barring natural exceptions - are meant to be 'padded', or at least 'full' (and certainly without a gap!) Because the things and buttocks are the natural go-to place for female fat distribution, this trend is even more pernicious than many another dieting fad: you'd have to lose a great deal of body weight/fat to get the gap.

You know... I'd been wondering for a while whether my powers of perception were messing with me. For the past couple of years, I saw so many young women with 'thigh gaps' in skinny jeans. Although quite svelte myself, I definitely have that au naturel padding on my thighs and I seriously was left wondering whether evolution had taken an absurd turn in breeding an entire generation of Millennials with skinny thighs. Only now do I realize this is a 'trend' and that I suspect many of these young women diet and exercise excessively to achieve the look.

There are many a Tumblr and pro-Ana site dedicated to The Gap.

I can't even express how much this infuriates me. I am sick to my stomach of the body-shaming and unattainable, profit-and-shame driven standards of the beauty industry. Although I know we've always had beauty ideals, it seems to get worse and worse with each passing year. It is the complete objectification of women.

If I am going to expose Patriarchy for what it is in the fundie world, then I feel morally obliged to do the same thing for the secular world. We need to stop this nonsense and create a body-positive culture that affirms our natural shape.

End rant :twisted:

[Dinaberries]

Pretty sure this isn't a new trend. My mom, aunt and grandmother all consider legs without a thigh gap to be a sub par pair of legs, and they came of age in the 70s, 60s and 40s respectively. They all pushed me to strive for a thigh gap and while I had one for years, I did have to practically kill myself for it. I personally think lean, toned legs with a gap are my ideal, but now that I've had a child, I'm not sure if I will have one again and I'm okay with that. Anyway, if this is a new thing, I'm really surprised and maybe the women in my family are unusual...

[Maggie Mae]

I have never had one, even when I was 110 lbs and worked out every day, didn't eat meat, and was 17. I always just though I was deformed, cursed with chubby, ugly, short legs.

Now that I'm +50lbs and older, I regret wasting my youth and beauty on dreams of 4 more inches of height and a thigh gap. And smaller boobs. As it was, my schools dress code was literally the least flattering type of clothing for my body type, and I suffered through high school with low self esteem as no one looked at me twice, thinking I was fat and weird. Yeah, I was a double zero and teenagers told me I was fat and ugly.

There is no justice in this world when it comes to american pop culture and beauty standards.

[moreorlessnu]

The first time I read about the thigh gap was in Debby Boone's book (yes, she of "You light up my life" fame). She said something to the effect that when a woman puts her legs together, there should be 3 gaps; ankles, knees and thighs.

Thankfully, when I prayed for guidance, Jebus told me he purposely created me w/o a thigh gap.

[Soldier of the One]

Wow... maybe I've been living under a rock but I'd never heard the term until today.

I definitely don't qualify. Maybe I ought to crawl back under my rock.

Frankly, my thighs are nobody's business except: a) mine, b) my husband's.

[Widget]

This has been around forever. It temporarily lessens as a obsession when pants styles lean towards looser styles and comes back when pants get tighter.

Even when I was 15 lbs underweight my thighs touched. :dance:

[Mama Mia]

I remember in the 70's my friends and I all thought we would be excellent super models because we read about the three gap thing and we all had it. Of course we were 11 and in the middle of the shooting up before filling out part of puberty.

[pixydust]

I never had a thigh gap...even as a size 3 I had curves, and curves and thigh gap don't go together.

[Dinaberries]

Some bodies have a slight curve with a thigh gap. The women in my family (except for my mom, who had no curves before having kids) tend to be built that way. I'm a more extreme hourglass naturally than the rest of them, but when I had a gap, I weighed 100 lbs (I'm 5'3"), had an 11 inch difference between my waist and hips, and had a small c cup. Not nearly as curvy as I am now, but not stick straight. I've never had a prayer of being stick straight!

[flyawaystray]

I have a thigh gap and a nice healthy weight, it all has to do with how wide your hips are. I think it's ridiculous that it's a standard because not everyone is built the same.

I'm 5'7" and 133 lbs, perfectly normal.

The current thing right now is hip dips. :roll:

[Wolfie]

I have a thigh gap, but it's because I have totally messed up legs that are rotated slightly, and therefore knock kneed and bow legged.

[veron1que]

It's sad because no amount of starvation dieting will result in a thigh gap in all body types. It's about bone structure not weight.

UH. These things are found on the the pro-anorexia groups that exist online. I just feel so bad for young girls who decide to google dieting tips and get sucked into those communities. :cry:

[Vex]

Even when my BMI was 15 I never had a thigh gap because I have always had muscular thighs.

I hate those standards because they're not actually 'standard' at all. For me, for some reason, the benchmark of skinnyness (back when I actually cared, which ironically was also when I was naturally underweight) was that vertical line that women get along their breastbone and down to their stomachs. Even at my thinnest I only ever had a hint of it up the top because my internal organs don't sit in the right places thanks to surgery I had at birth, and I kept thinking if I were just a bit thinner I'd get it.

Now I realise I never could have had it, no matter how thin I was.

I personally think that most models and celebrities look sick and completely unattractive. I know some people are naturally built that way, but they almost always look healthier than people who starve themselves.

[Lady Elaine]

I'm so glad I'm old and wise enough to be able to honestly say I don't care about things like that.

[Three and Done]

As a former anorexic, I did indeed once have a "thigh gap" - however, I weighed 98 pounds at my 5'6" height. Since becoming healthy again, I no longer have it, and quite honestly don't miss it, as it was a sign of my profoundly screwed up thought process and eating habits.

The media presents an unrealistic (often Photo-shopped!) view of unattainable ideals that very few girls or women may hope to meet without extreme measures. It saddens and sickens me. :(

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I currently have a slight gap due to losing a good bit of weight due to IBS. I am used to my curves. The first time I noticed the gap, I believe my exact words were "Whose body is this?" I finally have the figure I wanted...when I was in middle school!

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I have a thigh gap and a nice healthy weight, it all has to do with how wide your hips are. I think it's ridiculous that it's a standard because not everyone is built the same.

THIS!!!

This "goal" is nothing new, but it's one of things that just isn't "achievable" for everyone, regardless of how thin you get. Just start observing women and girls in tight pants on the street, you can see it has to do with the "angle" of how the legs go from hips to knees, and that's all about hip width. Plenty of people can be a size 0 or to the point of looking too thin by pretty much anyone's standard, and still not have the coveted "thigh gap" because they have narrow hips and their legs flare out from the top. Meanwhile other quite a bit chunkier people will have it - wide hips, THICK thighs, full butt, plus a gap (so the thighs touch further down, but it leaves a little triangle open by the crotchular area) is a thing too for another desired look (requires really wide hips). It's stupid.

I suppose there's some segment of people with an angle such that they "achieve" the thigh gap by varying their weight (and having it appear while still being somewhere in normal weight ranges), but for a lot of people they might as well just have a "goal" of having wider set eyes or something else ridiculously not changeable.

[Shoobydoo]

I have super skinny legs with a thigh gap and I can never buy new pants. The only pants I have that fit are a pair I got at a vintage store and had tailored, and a pair of skinny jeans which fit me like straight leg jeans. :oops: My butt and legs are totally different sizes. I've never heard someone talking about thigh-gaps as desirable before and it actually makes me feel uncomfortable a lot of the time because it's pretty obvious that nobody else I know has one.

Speaking of tumblr, there's a lot of total creeps on there. I'm accidentally scrawny and I have never been so creeped out as the day a pro-ana tumblr follow mine. I don't even post that many pictures on myself, and certainly not the fucked up "glamor" shots most pro-anas post. It's a great way to have all your confidence in your body sent right out the window. :(

[Wolfie]

I have super skinny legs with a thigh gap and I can never buy new pants. The only pants I have that fit are a pair I got at a vintage store and had tailored, and a pair of skinny jeans which fit me like straight leg jeans. :oops: My butt and legs are totally different sizes. I've never heard someone talking about thigh-gaps as desirable before and it actually makes me feel uncomfortable a lot of the time because it's pretty obvious that nobody else I know has one.

Speaking of tumblr, there's a lot of total creeps on there. I'm accidentally scrawny and I have never been so creeped out as the day a pro-ana tumblr follow mine. I don't even post that many pictures on myself, and certainly not the fucked up "glamor" shots most pro-anas post. It's a great way to have all your confidence in your body sent right out the window. :(

hugs.

I was younger in the days before the internet as we know it, and I was scrawny naturally too- 120 lbs and 5'10". My mom was told many times that she needed to deal with my eating disorder, and I was watched like a hawk by people when it came time to eat somewhere. I still am uncomfortable if I have to go to the bathroom right after I eat, I just realized. I always ate a lot, and only now, in my mid 30's, do I have to watch what I eat, and even now I'm not overweight.

[Shoobydoo]

hugs.

I was younger in the days before the internet as we know it, and I was scrawny naturally too- 120 lbs and 5'10". My mom was told many times that she needed to deal with my eating disorder, and I was watched like a hawk by people when it came time to eat somewhere. I still am uncomfortable if I have to go to the bathroom right after I eat, I just realized. I always ate a lot, and only now, in my mid 30's, do I have to watch what I eat, and even now I'm not overweight.

I used to get a lot of comments like that. Not so much now that I'm in college and people have learned to pretend to be polite, but people used to ask if I was anorexic... while I was eating food?? I guess no matter what you look like certain people are going to find something to hassle you about.

[Avalondaughter]

I wish I had a thigh gap. It has nothing to do with aesthetics. I like my muscular, powerful thighs. I just hate having "chub rub" in the summer.

[Shoobydoo]

Off topic, but when I first saw this post I thought it was referring to a different kind of [link=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ZettaiRyouiki]thigh gap[/link]. :lol:

Link not broken because it's TV tropes.

[crazyforkate]

I'm average weight but suspect I could get a thigh gap if I was truly skinny - it's almost there now. But if I got skinny I would lose my boobs, and I love my boobs too much for that. I have this one FB friend who brags about how big her thigh gap is all - the freaking - time, and it drives me nuts.

[Effie]

Hmm maybe that's why my little sister used to point out the thigh gap on me, while complaining that her wasn't as visible. I didn't get why having a gap between your legs was something to put any value on. My little sister (at that time 15-16) explained to me that you are fat if you don't have a gap. I didn't buy that explanation though. She was a bit weight-obsessed last year. Apparently she had 2 anorexic in her class. I don't know how many times I had to tell her she was healthy and had a normal body-size. One year later she has finally realized that the skinny dance students in her aesthetic class aren't healthy. (Dance students at the aesthetic programme belong to an "anorexic culture" - in the way many dance students have developed anorexia during the years. :O)

[AmericanRose]

Hmm. Never heard of a 'thigh gap' as an ideal for beauty, but I do remember, a few years ago, being in a "friend's" room and seeing a poster of some busty, ridiculously skinny woman on the wall, and commenting that I wished I looked like that (mostly joking, since I've never wanted to be muscly). He asked why, I said I was fat, and he looked at my legs and said, "your thighs don't rub together, you're fine".

I don't remember ever having a "thigh gap" though, since I've never been what could be called slender. :think:

ETA: yaaaay I'm.. praying for everyone!