Instagram and other social media channels build up the idea of a so-called ‘perfect body’. One trend driven by social media is an elusive ideal of a ‘thigh gap’. Beginning around 2013, the thigh gap started trending on social media, becoming a body ideal and goal for many women.
Women are dealing with higher levels of body scrutiny than ever before. With the invention of social media, we are taking more and more pictures of ourselves. We are also comparing ourselves to other people more than ever before. At Bandelettes we believe you don’t need a thigh gap – here’s why.
What Is A Thigh Gap?
A thigh gap is just air between our legs. Where your thighs are so thin that they don’t touch when you stand with your feet together. Most women do not have a naturally occurring thigh gap and find it difficult to achieve. This has led some to resort to extreme dieting or even surgery. The thigh gap obsession is criticized by medical professionals who link to it a rise in eating disorders.
Summer is around the corner, so it’s time for the media to start telling us to get ‘beach body ready’. Magazines and advertisem*nts start talking about bikini bodies and thigh gaps. But why should we bother spending so much time and energy worrying about air between our legs?
You Don’t Need A Thigh Gap
You don’t need a thigh gap to be a healthy person. In fact, very healthy and athletic women are unlikely to have a thigh gap, even if they have very low body fat. That’s because athletic legs have muscle and muscle naturally makes the thighs touch. It doesn’t matter how many squats or donkey kicks you do, you cannot “spot reduce” fat anywhere on your body. Exercises for your thighs are fine as part of a healthy lifestyle. But thigh exercises will tone the area by building muscle, but that muscle will not create a thigh gap. It’s just not how most female bodies were built.
Luckily, the trend and desire for a thigh gap are dying down. Social media, despite encouraging this trend, also allows us to see a more varied range of women. We used to only see waif body shapes on the catwalks. Now, with the rise of curvy supermodels and influencers, we see more women with different body shapes. Models like Emme who walked in the Chromat runway show featuring Bandelettes. These women are all gorgeous and confident in their own skin.
One such positive role model is Jameela Jamil. In March 2018, British actress and TV host Jameela Jamil urged women to think about everything else they had going on for themselves. Saying “I’m tired of seeing women just ignore what’s amazing about them and their lives and their achievements, just because they don’t have a bloody thigh gap.”
Instead of striving for one ideal, we should look to a wider range of beauty. We can be inspired by athletic bodies like William’s sisters Venus and Serena or Simone Biles. Curvy silhouettes are being championed by Beyoncé, Rhianna, and Kate Upton. Plus-size models like Ashley Graham and Tess Holliday are breaking barriers and redefining modeling industry standards. The thigh gap is unobtainable and unhealthy for most of us to try and achieve. Instead, we must learn to live with and love the bodies we have. We must also appreciate the wider range of beautiful bodies all around us.
Learn To Live With Your Chub Rub
Most women whose thighs touch have experienced thigh chafing before. This has unfortunately been termed ‘chub rub’. If you like to wear dresses, skirts or shorts during warm months, rubbing thighs can be painful. But thigh chafing doesn’t have to stop you from enjoying life to the fullest. Bandelettes thigh bands are the perfect solution for women who experience inner thigh rubbing. Try one of our lace styles today and experience the comfort for yourself.
Embrace the body you have this summer and be comfortable in your own skin with Bandelettes. For more inspiration check out our Ultimate Guide To Body Positivity.
FAQs
You don't need a thigh gap to be a healthy person. In fact, very healthy and athletic women are unlikely to have a thigh gap, even if they have very low body fat. That's because athletic legs have muscle and muscle naturally makes the thighs touch.
Why you don't want a thigh gap? ›
A thigh gap is when a person's inner thighs don't touch while standing with their feet together. For some people, there is no way to get a thigh gap since it largely depends on bone structure. Thigh gaps are a dangerous beauty ideal that can cause overexercising, extreme dieting, and anxiety.
Do bandelettes work? ›
The short answer is a resounding yes, anti-chafe bands can indeed serve as a solution for chafing. They are ingeniously designed to form a protective barrier between your thighs, which significantly reduces the skin-on-skin friction that leads to chafing.
Is it not healthy to have a thigh gap? ›
What it is, is a mix of genetic predispositions (where your body naturally stores fat), your current body composition and body fat percentage and your bone structure. Before we go any further: whether you do or do not have a thigh gap does not make you less or more healthy, strong or worthy.
Am I fat if I don't have a thigh gap? ›
The primary determining factor for whether you have a thigh gap isn't body weight, a healthy diet or strength training – it's the width of your hips. Yup, that's it! People with wider hip bones are more likely to have a natural thigh gap, and people with narrow-set hip bones are less likely to have one.
Should girls' thighs touch? ›
“Most women's thighs touch somewhere from between their crotch and their knees,” even at a healthful thin weight, she says. Aside from a small minority of body types, “you have to be severely underweight for [the thighs] to separate, but that's not the message that's being perceived by teens.”
Am I fat if my thighs touch? ›
The first step is to reeducate the mind and body to understand that touching thighs are a sign that you are in fact a human being with a normal structure, overweight or not. In good standing posture, the feet will be a bit narrower than the outside of the pelvis, under the hip joints.
What are Bandelettes used for? ›
Bandelettes provide a reliable barrier between the thighs, effectively preventing painful chafing and irritation. Crafted from soft and stretchy materials, Bandelettes offer a snug and comfortable fit without restricting movement.
Why do girls wear thigh band? ›
【Function】: Protect your skin from the inconvenience of chafing legs and chafing between thighs and return to having beautiful thighs and soft skin.
How to wash Bandelettes? ›
How should I wash Bandelettes® Thigh Bands? Hand wash in cold water with mild detergent and air dry.
A thigh gap is a space between the inner thighs of someone who is standing with their knees straight and their feet together. It's a so-called standard of beauty particularly applied to women's bodies.
Can every girl have a thigh gap? ›
Some women are very slim but still don't have a gap between their inner thighs. The reason for this is that thigh gaps are usually down to genetics. Some women have a thigh gap naturally due to their pelvic structure. Others don't because their pelvis is narrower, and their leg bones are closer together.
What are mermaid thighs? ›
Basically the idea is that the more your legs join up when you sit or stand, the closer you are to being a mermaid.
What size thighs are considered skinny? ›
The general public will range between 21 to 23 inches, be it a man or woman. However a 26 inch thigh may vary between fat and muscle density. What thigh size is considered skinny? A thigh that measure below 20 inches can be considered as skinny, depending on the age of the person.
Does walking give you a thigh gap? ›
First and foremost, there is no one exercise you can do that will give you a thigh gap. When we workout, weight loss isn't targeted to one area – you lose weight from your entire body.
Have slim thighs? ›
Increase resistance training
Participating in total-body, muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week may help burn calories, reduce fat mass, and strengthen your thighs. Include lower body exercises such as lunges, wall sits, inner/outer thigh lifts, and step-ups with just your body weight.
How do you get rid of a thigh gap? ›
Liposuction, a thigh lift, and CoolSculpting are three ways a cosmetic surgeon can help treat fat cells in your inner thighs. While you may feel better aesthetically, having a thigh gap isn't considered a medical problem, so you should weigh all of the benefits, costs, and potential risks carefully.
Does thigh gap mean loose? ›
If your thigh bones are far apart, you're more likely to have a gap than if your lower body is narrow. Body fat has some influence, but it's not much of a determining factor, and the presence or absence of a thigh gap is not an indication of whether you're at a healthy weight or not.
What causes inner thigh fat? ›
Inner thigh fat can be the result of either weight gain, genetics, age or hormonal changes. Inner thigh fat is often stubborn and doesn't go away with just diet and exercise. The shape of our thighs is not always something we can change.
