A Month of Blogs - The Thigh Gap

The Thigh Gap

Suggested by Anonymous.


As a writer who seems to have hit a low point in creativity and / or just getting off my ass and writing, I signed myself up to write 31 blog posts during October - one a day - on any subjects that are suggested to me. The only rules for suggestions are that they can't be anything that involve me having to take on a particular viewpoint (so no "Why I Hate Twilight" or "Why Rock Music is the Best Music") - this isn't debating class, and right now I'm not interested in trying to argue something that I may or may not agree with. Anything else goes - it can be a specific subject or a broad one, one that I've written about in the past or something new that will need research. If you're interested in playing along, you can leave a comment here, or email me at thenordicalien@gmail.com. (I'll try and remember to check there, honest!)


Someone - I don't know who - suggested that I write about the space between a girl's thighs. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that they're not asking me to talk about vaginas.

Truth is, I'm sick to death of this topic. That isn't a dig at you, Anonymous - it's probably an interesting topic for those who don't hear about it from every young girl they talk to. (That's a lot, btw.) I'm sick of the topic because everywhere I turn I see girls - and women - cursing their perfectly nice bodies and feeling inadequate because they don't have the new (well, several years' old) fashion accessory that's taken the world by storm.

I first heard of "The Gap" when a male friend of mine liked a Facebook page, and it came up on my wall. I thought they were talking about the clothing store until I checked out the page, to find that it was a collection of photos paying homage to women whose thighs didn't touch. All sorts of women - tall, short, skinny, muscular, Black, White, Asian...the only thing they had in common was a space at the top of their legs.

I shrugged, thought to myself, I've seen weirder things, and closed the page. What I didn't expect was to see people talking about this EVERYWHERE.

Being someone who likes her research, I decided to find out how a girl goes about acquiring this gold-standard accessory. And do you know what I found? You can't. Not healthily, anyway. Of course anyone who gets super-thin will lose thigh fat and eventually muscle, but that doesn't happen for a long time, not until you're severely underweight. (And frankly, losing muscle mass isn't something you want to do. Trust me on that one - I've lost muscle through serious illness, and it makes you horribly weak, and takes forever to build back up. Not to mention the fact that generally less muscle = lower metabolic rate.)

So except in the case of unhealthy weight loss, you can't get a thigh gap. You either have one or you don't. It all depends on the angle of your pelvis and how your femurs - that's your thigh bones - sit in their sockets.

Of course, if you're overweight, when you lose weight you might find that you have one. I have no idea if I have or not; my legs have been heavy most of my life, even during those few slimmish college years.

So essentially, all these girls are making themselves feel inadequate, are killing themselves in the gym, to get something that cannot physically happen unless you already have the physiology. Imagine having a bunch of girls trying to diet and exercise their way into getting longer arms, or smaller feet. Sound silly to you? Yeah, me too. You can't change your skeleton.

(Actually, I remember back in 2000 or 2001, one of the - thankfully short-lived - fads amongst high-society women was to have surgery on their feet. Know what they did? They had their last tarsal and metatarsal removed so their feet looked more slimline and fit into designer shoes. Yes, they had their baby toes cut off. There were actually surgeons out there willing to cut off body parts so women could pander to fashion trends. Turns out you actually CAN change your skeleton sometimes...if you have enough money...and lack enough sense.)

I happen to like the look of thigh gaps, if they're on a woman who has one naturally. If you have one along with good health and good muscle tone, I think they look nice. I wouldn't mind having one. I might get one when I get closer to my goal weight, since I have quite wide hips. We'll see. But if I don't I certainly am not going to feel inferior to women who do. That's just ridiculous, and sad. The body you're meant to have is the one you've been given. Eat well, exercise well, look after it, and accept it the way it is.


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