Something popped up on my Tumblr dash and I'm like, "thigh gaps? What is this nonsense?"

So I Googled, and read THIS blog post, and am now enlightened -.-

So I ask again...WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?

"You people" being the ones trying to look like that...YOU ARE BEING BRAINWASHED.

If your natural body shape gives you this thigh gap, good for you, I guess? If it's how you want to look. Bit of a bugger if it isn't...

I have skinny shapeless legs for my body shape, especially below the knees. I don't just have a thigh gap, I have entire leg gap, they don't touch anywhere. Does that make me some fashion forerunner?

This thigh gap nonsense is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard. Just the latest media-driven crap targetted at easily influenced teen girls, am I right? The fact that to achieve this look if your body doesn't grow that way naturally requires a major eating disorder, big deal, right?

I can imagine why some people would want a thigh gap. I once knew someone who did not have a thigh gap and thought it would be ideal because then the thighs, according to her, would not rub each other to the point of skin soreness when wearing a skirt or dress.

But personally it's not something I would specifically try to change my body shape to achieve. For me, I just want to change so that I can be healthier, the attractiveness aspect, including getting the seemingly ideal thigh gap are just things that may come with being healthier.

From what I've read, to achieve this look if your body shape isn't like that naturally is extremely unhealthy though, because it would require muscles to have to waste away

This isn't something that's naturally achievable unless your bones are a particular shape

When I think of different body shapes, and the fact that some people just are naturally more curvy with bigger thighs than others, I can see what you're saying jelly, it makes sense, particularly if your bones are bigger and the leg bones lean sort of closer together to the knees.

It's more about bone curvature, from what I can gather. People are more likely to have this thigh gap if their pelvis is a certain shape, it's not about size.

So the girls who starve themselves to attain this look unnaturally are really damaging their health.

I suppose I'm a very good example here. I have this gap; I'm 42, I have no muscle tone because I don't exercise. I weigh 130lb. I'm fairly slim but I'd be classed as fat by the media, I have cellulite OMG!

I have this gap because of the shape of my skeleton. But there's teen girls out there, starving themselves to get this look because it's fashionable. Humanity makes me sick, seriously.

Pffft *puts her hipster voice on* Obsessed about it before it was cool. [t2th]

When I was treating my body poorly in junior high at one point I was 113 and mortified with myself because I was still fat (in my mind) because I didn't have a thigh gap. I got to 103 till my mom made me go to a conciler about it.

Looking back the reason I keyed in on and became obsessed with that specific area was because of a poster of a nude model coming out of the water my first boyfriend had on his wall. He was older than me and in a lot of ways REALLY bad for me. I had better boobs than her, and a I've never disliked anything about my face. My mind just latched onto the only thing I thought was better/different on her than me. Being more of the sporty type at the time my thighs were thick (compared to hers) but they were in good shape. Heck I WISH I was 113 at this point. XD I was at a healthy weight for my height and had a healthy life style.

Moral:
If your father figure is away 24/7 and you date an older guy in junior high school.... your gonna have a bad time. XD

Oh, I have that gap XD
I'm a healthy 120lbs, though. I'm just slender, not bone skinny. I eat and workout.

I'm not sure how girls can achieve that gap without getting chicken-stick-legs. Like you said, it depends on your bone curvature and only a couple people have it.

Last night on America's Next Top Model had a bunch of girls with that high gap but they were beyond normal skinny and it was painful to see them walk. And even if they do achieve it, yes I agree that it's unhealthy, Jelly. They can obtain brittle bones. I bet their bones are easily broken once they get to that point because of that.

The media is advertising girls to starve themselves in order to get them... that show and that article does not help anyone. Anorexia shouldn't be taken lightly. Everyone on TV is plasticity made and people should not be so naive to think they were born naturally anything. It's still never easy to be a female. They keep redefining what skinny is and now it's the near-death-experience. Even the Presidents wife took control and destroyed the Food Pyramid, now its just a Plate. I guess that's good in the long run but I wonder what severe parents that are health nuts are going to do to their children.

@ Nephy; Oh, wow! Nephy! TT
I think 113lbs is okay. My moms 108lbs. She eats like a pig but she never really gains anything.

I could not care less about people that starve themselves to get a gap. It's their body so they can do what they want. If they want to put themselves at risk that's fine by me. I'd rather laugh at their stupidity than get mad about it and make a long tumblr rant.

Oh.. I didn't know that there was a thing for "thigh gaps". There are some weird trends going on. I didn't know it even had a name.

I'm naturally thin, and I have that, but I actually perceived it as unwanted. I felt I was weird that my thighs weren't touching. I'm actually really self-conscious how thin I am, I feel like I get judged more than admired. I find it interesting how most girls want to be thin, yet it isn't as luxurious as it seems.

I'm at about 113 pounds right now and there is no way in hell I will ever have a thigh gap XD Not unless I decided to be completely unhealthy and drop under 100 pounds which I would never do XDDD So I guess I just wasn't designed for thigh gaps XDDD

But that trend has been around for a while - people in middle and high school with me were obsessed with the thigh gaps D: XD

completely stupid. Who actually looks at the gap? Who cares? o.o

I rather listen to my gym instructor since she knows more about healthy level of dieting. (not gonna fall for this article)

I've heard of thigh gaps before. One of my male friends was the first person to tell me about thigh gaps when explaining how he hates hanging out with other guys (in groups). He says that guys (in groups) act completely different. Other guys he knows are good guys act like jerks, all part of some macho male thing but that's beside the point right now. Anyway, the whole group he had been hanging out with the night before was doing nothing but picking women a part and saying which ones they'd bang (as if they had a shot) and which ones might look ok with more alcohol. Girls that didn't have the thigh gap were considered gross and overweight to that entire group of men. I think that lots of people don't know that its not weight that dictates a thigh gap. Which is sad in the case of impressionable (or really, any) woman.

Unfortunately, this can go both ways....

I've been underweight my entire life, but I'm not unhealthy. I've had numerous doctors evaluate it, and they've said that I'm not unhealthy, but very naturally thin. I have gaps between my thighs and it's completely natural. I didn't starve myself to be this thin, I just am.... and I get TONS of shit for it. It's socially not okay for someone to go up to a girl who's heavier and tell her "lose weight, fat ass" but it's COMPLETELY socially acceptable to go up to a girl who is very thin and said "Jeez, gain weight, you look gross". -_-

I saw a pretty awesome imgur post where there was some chick responding to the "thigh gap" pictures with one of herself clinging to various bags of junk food.

I think she's got the right idea. XD

Originally Posted by Clair Voyant

Unfortunately, this can go both ways....

I've been underweight my entire life, but I'm not unhealthy. I've had numerous doctors evaluate it, and they've said that I'm not unhealthy, but very naturally thin. I have gaps between my thighs and it's completely natural. I didn't starve myself to be this thin, I just am.... and I get TONS of shit for it. It's socially not okay for someone to go up to a girl who's heavier and tell her "lose weight, fat ass" but it's COMPLETELY socially acceptable to go up to a girl who is very thin and said "Jeez, gain weight, you look gross". -_-

I can really understand this. I never can stay at a stable 100lbs and over unfortunately. When I took P.E., I always told I'm "too lean" and it's like "I'm sorry?!". I'd have to gain muscle to actually put on weight.

I always get commented how I'm "too thin" and it's just "shocking" or "You need to eat more!" It's just adasfkkjgh

But it's upsetting that there are girls trying to achieve thigh gaps like some kind of milestone. There's really nothing amazing about it. It's so dumb.

I blame the thigh gap thing on a few different variables in today's society. One is the obsession with being thin--which would be the reason women give a shit, and partially the reason why men seem to care so much about it. The other is porn. If a porn star doesn't have a thigh gap then she's going to be shoved in the "BBW' or "MILF" or whatever other "overweight" category that I don't know about. It's such a stupid thing, but in my life almost all of the idiotic male ideals of female beauty come from the porn industry.

I have had a "thigh gap" ever since I hit puberty and it's something I never paid attention to or thought of as special until last year when I heard of the thigh gap craze. I still don't really think I'm special for it...but I apparently have the elusive wide pelvic bones because I fluctuate between 140 and 145 pounds and never have lost it. Even at my highest of 155 I still had one. I'm 5'6" though, so even at 155 I was quite skinny and of a healthy weight.

But anyway, yup. Porn. I blame this trend mostly on porn, and of course the world of high fashion. But mostly porn when it comes to men degrading women for it.

What about the men wanting bigger penises craze? Can we blame the porn industry on that too?

There will always be an idealized human figure. It's natural.

Um....yes. Yes you can blame the porn industry for a measure of that. I think that was a bad example for the point you were trying to make. Sure there is an idealized body, but it is ever changing. An example for your penis debate is the fact that ancient Romans found large penises disgusting and repulsive...

These things change, and they change for cultural reasons. I happen to blame quite a few of the current stupid cultural biases that some men hold (especially on women and sexuality in general) on porn at the moment. I'm willing to put forth mounds of evidence on this theory as well. Besides, the point of the thread was to ask where the heck this stupid idealization came from and that's been my take on it for awhile.

But like I said, the thigh gap thing, in my opinion, comes from both porn and fashion standards.

lets see these mounds of evidence then xD

Do you really want me to go get all of the journal articles or were you just being punny?

i want you to go get all the journal articles.

I remember when my thighs didn't touch. I was 98lbs standing at 5'2", with a natural waist of a 34 (YEP, 98lbs and 5'2''...and a natural waist of a 34"!!!!). I looked emaciated and disgusting, but oh man, I got SO many compliments on my legs it was disgusting... I was 14 and had been going through a cycle of starving myself, then binging and purging for about 8 months.


Some people are nuts.
If you don't have thigh gaps and losing a gross amount of weight is the only way to get them...please find another feature to accentuate. Maybe you have a nice butt, or face, or the the world's prettiest eyes. Not everybody's got every thing. Love the body you have, because its the only one you've got.

Alright, then you will have them. :) This may be a little difficult as we don't share access to an online scientific journal where I could pull articles from, but I'll do my best to find some that everyone can see without having to pay for.

I read through this and found a lot of the common stats and arguments in it. Page 10 specifically discusses the pervasive nature of porn and how it is becoming more mainstream and effects the world's view of women. http://www.uky.edu/~aubel2/eng104/pa...f/jacobsen.pdf

This link will be to a full book on the subject of porn standards infiltrating modern culture. Page 52, second paragraph, specifically deals with what we are discussing. Pop-porn: Pornography in American Culture - Google Books

I don't know if I can find anything specifically referring to the "thigh gap" but for now those articles should present some statistics, etc., that are related to my theory and make a leap to its idea plausible.

Also, just as an aside, since I get accused of this a lot: I don't really care about/have a vendetta against porn. People can do as they please--I just think it's stupid to say that it has no effect on culture.

Good read havent read all of it ofcourse, but i did get the general idea. although i didnt find anything in those links about the unrealistic view that men hold on women and sexuality in general due to porn. like honestly any man with half a brain knows that the standards set in porn for wimmens and their bodies are highly unrealistic. i think to most men porn is sort of like a sexual fantasy getaway (hope i can explain this without sounding like some nasty pervert who sits in his basement jerking his meat 24/7 xD). like an ideal world sort of thing. and in an ideal world, every woman would have the body of a goddess, because it is more sexually stimulating then lets say, a paler girl with smaller boobs and love handles. (which is what porn was meant to do in the first place, stimulate sexually). but i think to most men it is obvious that most girls in real life wont have bodies like this, and its ok with us! like i seriously doubt there is anyone who when he's about to get freaky with a girl and she takes of her clothes and he finds her body to be less attractive then the bodies he's seen in his favorite porno's will be all: "nuh uh! thats a no go!".

Although i do agree with you that fashion probably does make a lot of women discontent with their bodies. honestly most of the girls i see in "fashion" i dont even find attractive. most of them look plain awful to me, hobbling about on their stick legs in high heels, looking like their about to buckle under the weight of their own body.

Obviously there is nothing wrong with working out and taking good care of your body to achieve a certain figure, i think its admirable and shows that you have self respect, like wanting to be the best possible version of you that you can be. although some people do get caught up in it and end up seriously damaging their health and bodies, which is never a good thing.

Hope that wasn't too hard to read, i did go off on a bit of a tangent there. had kind of a hard time expressing in words how i felt about this whole thing in my mind. like i do agree with you to a certain extent, but i dont agree entirely on the porn thing, as i think to most people its obvious that its sort of a fantasy, and the reality is quite alot different.