Space between the inner thighs when standing upright with both knees touching
A woman with a thigh gap
Athigh gap is a space between the innerthighs of some women when standing upright with knees touching.[1]
In the 21st century, some people in theWest have begun to consider the thigh gap a special feature ofphysical attractiveness and physical fitness in women.[2][3]
In the United States, it was reported that among teenage girls, a gap had become abeauty ideal.[4] Many women have found it difficult to achieve a thigh gap, leading some to resort to extreme dieting[5] or surgery[6] in order to try to obtain it.[7] Critics of the phenomenon have held that the thigh gap is a physical feature natural only for women with a certain type ofbody shape and bone structure that most women do not have. AnAFP article cites several Americanpsychologists andsociologists, one asoi-disant "body image expert", who opine that attempts to attain what they deem an unattainable ideal come at the cost of problems of self-esteem that can lead toeating disorders.[8]
In 2013, author Camille Hugh published her bookThe Thigh Gap Hack,[12] and in June 2013 she was interviewed about the book onThe Dr. Oz Show.[13] The book was criticized by Lisa Delaney of Spryliving.com, who said the book "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]
A backlash quickly developed among those concerned about the potential negative consequences of the trend. Parenting experts and counselors formed anti-thigh gap movements.[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 healthybody image and attitudes to food and weight.[15]
Australianplus-size modelRobyn 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 afterCassey Ho discovered[17] that a photo of a model had aphotoshopped 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'splus-sizejeans 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 that they do not use any photo-editing techniques to alter the apparent shape of their products, but they do sometimes use pins on clothing to adjust how it fits a mannequin.[19]
The thigh gap has also spawned opinions from newspapers.The Times of India called it "mania".[20] Columnist Kelly Richardson of theSacramento Bee wrote that "for most people it is next to impossible to attain".[21] InThe Observer journalist Rosie Swash called the thigh gap "widespread, harmful and often unachievable".[22] ColumnistHadley 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"[8] and clinical psychologist Barbara Greenberg has dismissed the trend as a "pipe dream",[8] adding "most women are not built that way to have that space between their thighs".[25]
^abDelaney, Lisa (21 August 2013)."Diet Plan Review: Thigh Gap Hack".Spry Living.Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved30 November 2014. Review ofThe Thigh Gap Hack, by Camille Hugh.
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