Forget the generation gap, or even the age gap. Today's young people are concerned with only one kind of gap: thigh gap. The latest obsession for girls has everything to do with having thighs that do not touch.
In my day there was another name for thigh gap—bowlegged—and it wasn't exactly sexy. But what did we know? So these days, when a girl has to lie down to pull on her skinny jeans, the bigger the space between her thighs, the better.
Apparently Thigh Gap (TG) has long been a thing, as our friend Google will attest. According to an article in Common Health, there are even particular diets to help girls attain TG.
And as the author of the article points out, we are throwing our kids mixed messages all the time. On one hand, we emphasize the importance of inner beauty, etc, while "we work out and order salads for dinner," often obsessing about our looks even as we are telling our daughters not to. Le sigh.
Teens will always be overly concerned with body image. It's a fact of life, but when you factor in the internet and social media, well, "it’s like peer pressure on steroids."
Girls may take their cues from the media, but ultimately it is the way that the female of the species pressure ourselves and our peers that leaves the most lasting and damaging impact.
Is Thigh Gap just another girl fad or a dangerous sequitur into eating disorder territory?
Or are some young girls simply more susceptible to the latter than others?
Pssst...Have you heard of Barbell Apparel? They have actually recently launched their anti-thigh gap jeans for athletic bodies. We love this!
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