The #realtalk On Thigh Gaps

I’m not going to lie to you, a few years ago, I used to want a thigh gap.

I’d stand right in front of the mirror, place my feet together and cringe as my thighs inevitably smushed together.

But a few short months before that, I didn’t even know what they were. Wanting to get healthier and more in shape, I started looking at health and fitness blogs online. What I found was an obsession that girls and women had with having a space between your thighs.

Wikipedia defines “Thigh Gap” as follows:

“In humans, a thigh gap is a gap between the thighs when standing upright with both feet touching. Some women aspire to this for reasons of a perceived increase in attractiveness, with some considering it a sign of femininity and fragility[1] and some go as far as to say it symbolizes “the ideal body shape”.

If you haven’t seen or heard of this obsessions with thigh gaps online (lucky you!) here is an example:

I didn’t even think that was humanly possible at first. A gap when your feet touch?! How does that work? But alas, there were many girls with their feet together and thighs apart with hundreds of girls praising them for it.

Like so many other girls, I began to think, “Do I need to look like that?” and suddenly, I was insecure about something that moments ago I did not know even existed.

As time went on, I eventually saw the farce of this obsession and how it’s unhealthy both mentally and physically.

First of all, although there are some women who naturally have this gap, most of the women who have this are significantly underweight.

Many of these women purposefully lose weight far beyond what is healthy in order to achieve this feat. This leads to malnourishment or eating disorders, and losing weight beyond a person’s healthy weight range can have large effects on their organs and muscles.

Secondly, for many people, a ‘thigh gap’ is virtually impossible.

Having a gap between your thighs is largely due to the width of your hips. With wider hips, it’s much easier for a space to appear between your legs. However, with narrow hips, it is impossible for legs to not touch. This obsession with thigh gaps therefore leads many girls to have an unhealthy body image. Girls begin to hate their bodies for not having what is virtually impossible to attain.

I’m ready to call out this trend and stop the madness of obsessing over something so arbitrary. Some people naturally have thigh gaps, which is perfectly fine; it’s not about pinning body types against one another. At the same time, we should not give a ‘thigh gap’ power over what we do or think of ourselves.

A thigh gap does not signify one’s beauty or thinness. It is not a trophy of success or a sign of femininity.

Let’s just stop the obsession and start embracing our natural bodies, smushing thighs and all.