The Thigh Gap

From runway models, to fashion trendsetters, to actresses, the thigh-gap has made it’s home on popular websites like Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. The thigh gap is defined as a space between a girl’s inner thighs when she is standing with her feet together. The thigh gap has become an unhealthy inspiration for some, and led to eating disorders for others. But what is so enduring about the thigh gap? How was it so easy to make it an obsession?

The only way to answer that question is to look into the minds of young girls, who seem to be the ones that control the course in which trends follow. A recent study shows that eighty percent of girls dislike their bodies by the time they reach the age of seventeen years old. This eighty percent of girls are being affected by the advertisements and pictures constantly bombarding them. These pictures do not only show images of models, who people constantly look up to but understand that their body shapes are near unattainable. These pictures are of fashion trendsetters, and of actresses, who are supposed to be seen as relatable. But who is even more relatable than the picture-perfect actresses and reality stars that fill the screen? The teenage girls themselves. Images of regular girls— girls who don’t walk on the red carpet, but instead the girls who shop at Forever21, girls who wake up to go to school every morning—are shown sporting thigh gaps. These images normalize the obsession, and make it seem more attainable. What some girls do not even know is that the thigh gap is genetic. Sometimes being thin has absolutely nothing to do with whether you have a gap or not, it simply means your hips are wider set. Some who did not even know they wanted a thigh gap are suddenly obsessed.

What America sees as beauty changes drastically decade to decade. In the 1950s, a fuller figure was seen as beautiful, and now that seems so far and distant away. In fifty years time, maybe there will be a new obsession, and the thigh gap will disappear completely. The trend that hopefully comes soon is complete confidence in the body that you were given. Until then, eighty percent of girls will strive- unhealthily- to reach the infamous thigh gap.