Mind the Thigh Gap

I very recently read a statistic that by the age of 17, a staggering 80% of girls do not like their bodies.  Most women can relate.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure that we ever "outgrow" that completely.  It's a sad culture that the majority of one sex is that uncomfortable with their physical selves.  Remarkably, most of it has very little to do with being attractive for men.  It's about being attractive for other women.

We are our worst critics.  In past blogs, I've tried to encourage my female readers to stop and think before you criticize another woman.  In high school, we all know how much worse it is vying for popularity and acceptance.

The newest phenomenon, which I have briefly touched upon in other blogs is the new trend of a thigh gap.

As the above photo indicates, a true thigh gap is when a woman is standing straight up with her feet together but her thighs don't touch.  This is considered very beautiful and desirable for our upcoming generation of girls and perhaps is affecting women in their 20s and 30s as well.

Physically speaking the only healthy way that a woman could achieve a thigh gap is if she naturally has wide hip bones.  I am one of those girls with the "child bearing hips" (thanks, mom).  But most women are not built that way.  Instead their hips are more narrow and thus if they ever achieved a thigh gap they would be underweight.

But take a look at the photos below:

These are merchandising photos from one of my all time favorite online stores, Modcloth.  I love that shop, because they carry a lot of unique clothes that are vintage and geek inspired (that's right up my alley in case you didn't know...).  They also carry some fantastic plus size styles.  But these pictures made my jaw drop.  How horribly photoshopped can one woman's body be?  The underwear photo is ridiculous.  They clearly just chopped the girl's body apart on the computer.  And the bra?  Whose boobs look like that?  Even fake ones?  No one's.  But do teenage girls know this?  Do you know this? After all, you were just shopping online and now this has subconsciously been sucked into your brain as beautiful and acceptable.  And if you order these particular undergarments, this is how you "should" look.

This is what happens when a girl tries to achieve a thigh gap:

Have you ever noticed that we're conditioned to think that we're supposed to weigh less than 120lbs?  All of us?  The lightest I have ever weighed was 135lbs. and I'm 5'4.5"  If I had lost more than 5lbs I would have been considered underweight, although I doubt I ever would have.  I was was pretty muscular.  And eating.  Definitely eating.  

But why?  Why are we "supposed" to be less than 120lbs?  And why are we ashamed when we're not?  Take a quick peek at this tumblr page that is dedicated to thigh gaps:    http://please-thigh-gaps.tumblr.com/

If you think thigh gaps in photos are hot, I would like to give you a good shake and tell you, "It's not real!!"  

Thigh gaps in photos are all about angles, body position, and lighting.  They are not a woman standing straight with her feet together.  When a person becomes underweight it can lead to a whole slew of health problems including brain function and heart health.  Imagine having a heart attack, because you wanted your thighs to not touch.

On a personal note, I've never been fond of my own thighs.  I'm a typical woman.  We all think our thighs are too big.  I'm not sure where we got that idea, but we seem to like it and hold onto it.  And guess what?  Nearly every guy I've dated has insisted they love the shape of my thighs.  Now I can either screw up my face and act like they've taken a crazy pill, or I can realize that they are telling the truth.  Even though I don't feel like they're very pretty when I sit down wearing shorts and see my thighs expand into huge gobs of flesh across my chair.  (Admit it...you other ladies know what I'm talking about).

So I would like to now take this time to readjust our thinking and take a look at some beautiful women rocking some beautiful thighs.

 Elizabeth Taylor

Marilyn Monroe