Is the thigh gap still a thing?
After all, the thigh gap may have originated in the 00s, but the fatphobia it was rooted in is still very much alive today.
The thigh gap is returning along with the indie sleaze aesthetic. Spend enough time on TikTok's "For You" page, and you'll likely find yourself scrolling through videos with the hashtag #WeightLossCheck or #WeightLossHacks or videos promising that this one workout with give your butt a lift.
In practise, it's rare enough that something like 5% women in this world will have a thigh gap without resorting to drastic and dangerous measures. Despite this (or maybe because of this) teeny, tiny percentage, thigh gaps have become the most coveted “It accessory”.
BALLWIN, Mo. — Experts in eating disorders are concerned about an Internet-fueled trend in which teenage girls and young women pursue an elusive and possibly dangerous weight-loss goal: to become so slender that their thighs don't touch even when their feet are together.
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.
The mermaid thigh movement is a direct response to the thigh gap trend that's taken over Instagram in recent years. Basically, having a gap between your thighs was considered beautiful, which shamed a ton of women whose thighs naturally touch.
The "thigh gap" is the space between the thighs when standing upright with the feet together. Essentially, it just means someone's inner thighs don't touch or rub against each other. "[The thigh gap] is not a standard of health, but an aesthetic standard that is often recommended for women.
“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.”
"It is not a healthy achievement to have a gap," Dr. Herold says, "if it means you must starve yourself to decrease fat, lose important muscle mass and force your body into a shape it wasn't built for." It may not even be possible for some people to achieve a thigh gap, regardless of how much weight they lose.
According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the average female thigh circumference is 20.8 inches or 52.9 cm. This is based on a sample size of 4,065 women.
Are thigh gaps a beauty standards?
Essentially, it just means someone's inner thighs don't touch or rub against each other. "[The thigh gap] is not a standard of health , but an aesthetic standard that is often recommended for women. However, it is an unrealistic beauty ideal for many," says Janet A.
A new body trend has replaced the 'thigh gap' – and it could be even worse. First there was the thigh gap trend, which saw girls posting full-length mirror selfies in a bid to prove that their thighs did not touch; because the bigger the gap, the larger the success of achieving #BodyGoals.
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.
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.
The Tumblr trend of early 2013 was the "inner thigh gap" — the space between the thighs that appears when (very few) women touch their feet together. It's associated with anorexia and an obsessive desire to be as thin as possible.
Thigh chafing, dubbed “chub rub”, is often associated with being overweight. However, weight fluctuations of any type can lead to chafing. Chafing is simply caused by skin-on-skin friction. Extra weight, excess skin, pregnancy, or extra muscle can all increase the chances of thighs touching and rubbing when you walk.
Skin-to-skin contact can cause inner thigh chafing. This is especially common for women who wear skirts or dresses. The thighs rub against each other more because there's no barrier between them. Friction from clothing or underwear can also cause chafing between the legs.
Most women are endomorphs—curvy, feminine and soft. Mesomorphs are muscular with a medium frame. And ectomorphs are slender, with lean muscles and minimal fat, good candidates for thigh gap. Depending on your genes, your body build will be one, or a combination, of these.
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Thigh raises
- Use a short stool for this workout.
- Lie on your side.
- Support your head with your arm.
- Raise the upper leg up to the stool. Hold. Bring it down.
- Continue to do this 15 times on each side.
- Do 2-3 times a day.
It is a hollow cavity that can appear at the top of the legs when standing with feet together. Few women achieve a thigh gap without the assistance of genetics, extreme dieting, or even surgery. In most cases, a thigh gap means a body is underweight.
Are 18 inch thighs skinny?
18 inch thighs look small and skinny on just about any kind of physique. Of course, the taller you are, the thinner that your 18 inch thighs will look. This is because your leg mass is spread over a larger surface area when your thigh bones are long.
People whose thighs measured less than 60 centimeters, or about 23.6 inches in circumference, were in trouble. And those with stick-thin gams (less than 18 inches around) were at the greatest risk, according to new study in the online version of the British Medical Journal.
Thigh gap as a phrase rose to the public consciousness in December 2012, after the Victoria's Secret fashion show was aired on TV. Social networks Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram all acquired various accounts and hashtags dedicated to showing off thigh gaps.
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.
Unless you are underweight or have femurs that are extremely bowed or your hip joints live unusually far apart inside the pelvis, your thighs will touch.
The main culprit behind weight gain in your thighs is estrogen. This hormone drives the increase in fat cells in females, causing deposits to form most commonly around the buttocks and thighs.
...
Thigh raises
- Use a short stool for this workout.
- Lie on your side.
- Support your head with your arm.
- Raise the upper leg up to the stool. Hold. Bring it down.
- Continue to do this 15 times on each side.
- Do 2-3 times a day.
Legs are considered to be one of the most sexualized elements of a woman's body for their erogenous nature, where “inside of the upper leg has the most sensitive and delicate skin.”14 The essence of women's bodies is considered to lie between their legs. This is their power and what genders them.
Are thigh gaps a beauty standards?
Essentially, it just means someone's inner thighs don't touch or rub against each other. "[The thigh gap] is not a standard of health , but an aesthetic standard that is often recommended for women. However, it is an unrealistic beauty ideal for many," says Janet A.
The website even is encouraging as it states: “The truth is, technically, any woman can get a thigh gap if they lower their body fat and get skinny enough.” Actually, the truth is, they can't. And that's OK. It's structurally impossible for many women to “achieve” thigh gap.
