Pay No Attention to the ‘Thigh Gap’
Awhile back, Michelle Obama’s arms had women everywhere obsessed. Everyone wanted those toned, strong-looking arms. But lately, I’ve been seeing the term “thigh gap” thrown around constantly—as in, the gap between a woman’s thighs because her legs don’t touch when she stands with her feet together.
Some women and girls are looking at the thigh gap as the pinnacle of thin perfection; a goal to aim for or a measure of dieting success or failure. Simply search for “thigh gap” on the Internet, and you’ll find pictures of the thigh gap being used as “thinspiration” everywhere. But the thigh gap as inspiration trend has gotta go, for a few reasons.
First, it’s nearly impossible for many women to achieve a thigh gap. I was watching The Doctors recently when Dr. Travis Stork brought up the issue of the thigh gap. He found two women for his demonstration: one was a size 6 with a thigh gap, and the other was a size 0 without a thigh gap. X-rays of their hips showed that it’s more about bone structure than the amount of weight or fat you carry: if your bones angle in and your hips are narrow, the thigh gap is virtually unachievable no matter how much you run or hit the gym.
Not convinced? Read on for a few more reasons you shouldn’t aim for a thigh gap… —Erin