Thigh gap

A woman with a thigh gap

A thigh gap is a space between the inner thighs of some women when standing upright with knees touching.[1] A thigh gap has become an aspect of physical attractiveness that has been associated with fragility and femininity.[2] In the United States, it has been reported that among teenage girls, a gap has become a beauty ideal.[3] Achieving a thigh gap is difficult for many women and has led to cases of extreme dieting[4] or even surgery[5] in order to try to obtain it.[6] The thigh gap craze has been criticized as physically unnatural and a mostly unachievable body shape goal and as a cause of eating disorders.[7]

Origins of the phenomenon

The idea of the thigh gap received widespread news coverage in December 2012 after the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show[8] which featured several models with thin thighs. As a result, hundreds of blogs, Twitter accounts and Internet memes were published,[1] and images of thigh gaps featured in "thinspiration" blogs[9] and across social networking sites.[10] The Twitter account Cara's Thigh Gap was started which used images of Cara Delevingne as an example of thigh gaps.[1][11]

In 2013, author Camille Hugh published her book The Thigh Gap Hack: The Shortcut to Slimmer, Feminine Thighs Every Woman Secretly Desires,[12] and in June 2013 she was interviewed about the book on The Dr. Oz Show.[13] The book was criticized by Lisa Delaney of Spryliving.com, who said "the bottom line is that the Thigh Gap Hack feeds girls' and women's obsessions with their bodies, promotes thinness at the expense of healthfulness (because of Hugh's disdain of fitness, exercise, muscles, etc.), and promotes flaky, unproven methods for weight/fat loss."[12]

Backlash

A backlash quickly developed amongst those concerned about the potential negative consequences of the trend. Parenting experts and counselors formed anti-thigh gap movements including the Tumblr sites Touching Thighs and No Thigh Gap.[1] The medical community and female-empowerment advocates have also commented critically on the subject,[14] and the U.S. National Eating Disorders Association launched a website to promote healthy body image and attitudes to food and weight.[15]

Australian plus-size model Robyn Lawley criticized the thigh gap trend, denouncing it as "just another tool of manipulation that other people are trying to use to keep me from loving my body".[16] Target Corporation apologized after Cassey Ho discovered[17] that a photo of a model had a photoshopped thigh gap for a girl's bathing suit ad.[18] Old Navy came under criticism by bloggers after a photo of a mannequin wearing women's plus-size jeans on their website appeared to have a small thigh gap placed so that the jeans on the mannequin would look thinner than they would look on an actual person.[19] Old Navy subsequently stated on their website that they do not use any photo-altering techniques to deliberately alter how their products appear to fit.[19]

Media comment

The thigh gap has also spawned opinions from newspapers. The Times of India called it "mania".[20] Columnist Kelly Richardson of the Sacramento Bee wrote that "for most people it is next to impossible to attain".[21] In The Observer journalist Rosie Swash called the thigh gap "widespread, harmful and often unachievable".[22] Columnist Hadley Freeman called it the "most extreme body fixation yet".[23] Geneticist Sylvia Pagán Westphal was inspired to write an opinion piece on the thigh gap after her daughter brought the trend to her attention and was appalled by the results of her Google search for the term.[24] San Jose State University sociologist Natalie Boero has attributed the trend to living in a "sexist and sizeist culture"[7] and clinical psychologist Barbara Greenberg has dismissed the trend as a "pipe dream",[7] adding "most women are not built that way to have that space between their thighs".[25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Chandrasekharan, Gitanjali (31 October 2013). "Why thigh gap is so important to women". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "‘Thigh gap’ measuring trend among young women on social media may be encouraging eating disorders: U.S. experts | National Post". Life.nationalpost.com. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Shriver Report – The Weight of the Heart". Shriverreport.org. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Meisjes hongeren zichzelf uit voor een 'thigh gap'". AD.nl. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Explosieve groei cosmetische ingrepen voor Thigh Gap - Ze.nl - Hét online magazine voor vrouwen!". Ze.nl. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Why Girls Shouldn't Let The Thigh Gap Trend Leave Gaps In Their Self Esteem". Wibw.com. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Concern over teen ‘thigh gap’ weight loss obsession". Thejournal.ie. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Barbara Greenberg: The Thigh Gap - A Disturbing New Trend Among Teen Girls". Huffingtonpost.com. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  9. ↑ 4 February 2013 4:47 pm EDT (2 April 2013). "'Thigh Gap': Students, Experts Talk Body Image And 'Thinspo' Obsession On HuffPost Live (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Dangerous obsession over the 'thigh gap' - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana". Kplctv.com. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Cara Delevingne Talks Rihanna & Victoria's Secret at the British Fashion Awards 2012 graziadaily.co.uk, 28 November 2012. Retrieved 2014-03-16. Archived here.
  12. 1 2 Delaney, Lisa (21 August 2013). "Diet Plan Review: Thigh Gap Hack". Spry Living. Retrieved 30 November 2014. Review of Hugh (2013).
  13. ↑ "America's Dangerous New Diet Trend: Achieving the Thigh Gap Dr Oz Show". Mehmet Oz. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "'Thigh gap' trend for some young women worries culture watchers". TribLIVE. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  15. ↑ Siassina, Maria (9 October 2013). "'Thigh gap' trend may be encouraging eating disorders: experts". Canada.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  16. ↑ "Robin Lawley: 'Why the dangerous thigh gap trend makes me mad'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Humphrey, Michael (17 April 2014). "A Chat With Cassey Ho: On Target, Thigh Gaps And Health-Body Balance". Forbes. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Target Apologizes for ‘Thigh Gap’ Photoshop Fail". ABC News. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  19. 1 2 Solé, Elise (20 March 2014). "You Too, Old Navy? Thigh Gap Strikes Again". Yahoo Shine. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "Now girls aim for gap between inner thighs!". The Times of India. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Teen Talk: Obsession over 'thigh gaps' leads to unhealthy practices". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  22. ↑ Rosie Swash (13 November 2013). "How the 'thigh gap' became the latest pressure point on a woman's self-image". The Observer (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  23. ↑ Hadley Freeman (4 November 2013). "Ask Hadley: The thigh-gap obsession is not new but it's the most extreme body fixation yet". The Guardian (Guardian News and Media). Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  24. ↑ Sylvia Pagan Westphal (4 October 2013). "'Thigh Gap': Reflections On Teenage Girls’ Latest Obsession | CommonHealth". Commonhealth.wbur.org. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  25. ↑ Campbell, Charlie (1 October 2013). "'Thigh Gap' Latest Goal for Teen Fashion Victims | TIME.com". Healthland.time.com. Retrieved 10 February 2014.

Citations

External links

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