Thigh gap - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Hating on other women's bodies is wrong, and needs to stop. Whether or not you have a thigh gap depends on your bone structure. Some women will have one even when their body fat percentage is quite high (e.g. high end of the normal range) - others will not have one even at 13% body fat.

Calling it "unfeminine" and "unattractive" is not really fair on women who naturally have one. Maybe a thigh gap looks bad on someone who starved themselves ridiculously underweight to get one..... but they look good on women who have them naturally when their body composition is healthy.

This is one thing I really can't stand.... when women of one body type hate on women with another body type.... it's all over MFP. Why can't you learn to love yourselves without putting others down in the process?

This.

I have a thigh gap. I didn't try to get it and I'm right in the middle of the healthy weight range for my height. I didn't even know it was a thing until I started coming here but now I'm kind of self-conscious about it.

OP I get that you're just trying to discourage girls from starving themselves or setting unrealistic expectations, but body shaming is wrong regardless of motivation.

Yasmine91

Most girls especially young girls see it as the ultimate sign of skinny-ness. I have mixed feelings about it. On some girls it makes them look kinda broken, on some it looks good. I think it depends on the thickness of the legs. I am able to get it and for me it's very handy since my legs rub, ruin my jeans and chafe my legs.

I don't know what men think of it but knowing them I guess they think it's easy access lol

Kyrithys

I think the OP was just asking why others find it attractive when she personally feels that it isn't. She stated it was her own personal opinion and didn't call women with this body type ugly or say she hated them so not sure where the aggression has come from when it could have been an interesting debate.

Personally I wouldn't want much of a thigh gap but that's because it wouldn't suit my body shape. Even when I was slim I wouldn't have suited one and probably would have appeared to have very strange legs indeed.

I think girls that naturally have them suit them and look feminine.

Sadly though due to the expectations put on us women by celebrities, fashion bodies and the media in general, there are girls out there who starve themselves to unhealthy weights to achieve this and when they do, it's very obvious because the proportions aren't right.
Such girls have little or no muscle mass whatsoever on their legs to balance it out making them look like bent pins which to me really isn't pretty at all.

It is my opinion that there is nothing attractive about a girl who's on the brink of anorexia and looks like she should be on an Oxfam advert.

LilacSnow

WE MEN LOVE ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT XXXX

You know what women love? Massive muscles, a big penis and a wallet full of limitless credit cards.

Don't have that? Too bad... you're not good enough...

:laugh:

TriShamelessly

Speaking as a guy, I never considered thigh gap as attractive or unattractive by itself. Really never thought about it as an attribute. Physically, speaking just about the body, I prefer proportionality - legs, bottom, breasts. It's the whole physical package. But none of that makes up for a bad personality.

This ^^^

susheetush

Most girls especially young girls see it as the ultimate sign of skinny-ness. I have mixed feelings about it. On some girls it makes them look kinda broken, on some it looks good. I think it depends on the thickness of the legs. I am able to get it and for me it's very handy since my legs rub, ruin my jeans and chafe my legs.

I don't know what men think of it but knowing them I guess they think it's easy access lol

I don't get chafing, and my jeans never wear in the inner thigh, but I definitely don't have a thigh gap. My thighs touch but don't rub. But I could see how that would get annoying, and women wouldn't want that any more.

Pepper2185

Hating on other women's bodies is wrong, and needs to stop. Whether or not you have a thigh gap depends on your bone structure. Some women will have one even when their body fat percentage is quite high (e.g. high end of the normal range) - others will not have one even at 13% body fat.

Calling it "unfeminine" and "unattractive" is not really fair on women who naturally have one. Maybe a thigh gap looks bad on someone who starved themselves ridiculously underweight to get one..... but they look good on women who have them naturally when their body composition is healthy.

This is one thing I really can't stand.... when women of one body type hate on women with another body type.... it's all over MFP. Why can't you learn to love yourselves without putting others down in the process?

Well said.

Yasmine91

Most girls especially young girls see it as the ultimate sign of skinny-ness. I have mixed feelings about it. On some girls it makes them look kinda broken, on some it looks good. I think it depends on the thickness of the legs. I am able to get it and for me it's very handy since my legs rub, ruin my jeans and chafe my legs.

I don't know what men think of it but knowing them I guess they think it's easy access lol

I don't get chafing, and my jeans never wear in the inner thigh, but I definitely don't have a thigh gap. My thighs touch but don't rub. But I could see how that would get annoying, and women wouldn't want that any more.

Ooooh it's god awful! So painful you're really lucky

Cr01502

Good god!

Another thigh gap thread.

I almost preferred the one I just left where some girl was talking about not eating for 10 days . . . .

leilaphoenix

I think the OP was just asking why others find it attractive when she personally feels that it isn't. She stated it was her own personal opinion and didn't call women with this body type ugly or say she hated them so not sure where the aggression has come from when it could have been an interesting debate.

Seriously gappers, just because I don't like the look, doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other people who do. I was just interested to hear different opinions, particularly the opinions of those who like it.

sissiluv

I can't speak for all people who do find it attractive but from my understanding it is merely the latest thing to come into vogue.

http://her.ie/story/young-women-are-visiting-thigh-gap-social-media-sites-dedicated-to-the-fad-929121

It could be that it's simply a feature that's common in runway models (though I'll admit that I can't point you to which) which has therefore sparked an interest in mimicking the look, as is often the case with fashions, beauty and fads. For example, to be frank ones lips swell and rouge when aroused or during sex...hence lipstick, to give a fuller flushed appearance.

Personally speaking my guess would point towards the perceived delicateness of the body type commonly associated with said thigh gap. Delicate is commonly construed as feminine in today's culture, and an overt showing of delicateness such as the thigh gap could therefore by lauded as the pinnacle of femininity.

Why is it delicate? Some synonyms of the word may give one a hint, IE 'frail' and 'dainty'. The definition, according to google, is 'Very fine in texture or structure' and I would say the body type the thigh gap typically heralds from would be considered 'very fine' in it's thinness.

http://www.thefemininewoman.com/2010/02/how-to-be-feminine/

As to why delicate is in in the first place, I'd put my blame back onto the shoulders of fashion and the ins and outs of media. Thin bodies don't take as much effort to sew and create clothes for I believe. Likewise we're not supposed to be looking at the body, but at the clothes and with the tendency of the camera to add ten pounds, largely due to the effect of flattening something 3D into a 2D plane, a curvier body could be considered distracting. Unfortunately that perpetuates a thinness in fashion, hence the preoccupation with it in today's culture.

http://www.wisegeek.org/why-are-fashion-models-so-thin.htm

I hope that makes sense, I'm rather tired.

ETA: And it's only 'unfortunate' due to it putting one type of body onto a pedastal (which is never necessarily a good thing) instead neglecting the beauty of all body types.

leilaphoenix

This explains a lot. Thanks.

jeets888

Didnt bother reading all the posts but i can say one thing which is a consensus amongst most men i know .... not all woman have it and its fine, they sexy none the less but the gap towards the top half of the thighs .... is called ITC = Inner thigh Clearance or as many of my friends say "Gods Window"

Just saying but im indifferent

sunsnstatheart

I think the OP was just asking why others find it attractive when she personally feels that it isn't. She stated it was her own personal opinion and didn't call women with this body type ugly or say she hated them so not sure where the aggression has come from when it could have been an interesting debate.

Seriously gappers, just because I don't like the look, doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other people who do. I was just interested to hear different opinions, particularly the opinions of those who like it.

Starting a thread with a claim that you don't like a certain body type is pretty much the definition of body shaming. I get that maybe you're trying to help prevent girls from going on a quixotic weight loss quest in search for the famed thigh gap, but there is a better way to do it. Besides, my gorgeous, fit and healthy 40 year old wife has one. So yes, I like them. There are plenty of beautiful body types and features. And frankly, the idea that they are new is asinine.

neandermagnon

I think the OP was just asking why others find it attractive when she personally feels that it isn't. She stated it was her own personal opinion and didn't call women with this body type ugly or say she hated them so not sure where the aggression has come from when it could have been an interesting debate.

Seriously gappers, just because I don't like the look, doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other people who do. I was just interested to hear different opinions, particularly the opinions of those who like it.

the problem is when you start using words like "unfeminine" - really, would you like someone to say that about any part of your body that you can't change? You can express a preference or say what you find attractive without putting others down in the process, e.g. "I think it looks great when women's thighs touch" - rather than "I think thigh gaps are unfeminine and unattractive"

btw I'm not a "gapper" - I don't have a thigh gap, and I honestly don't care whether I get one or not (probably won't seeing as I don't have one at 22% body fat and don't intend going lower than 18% body fat). But I do think that as so many women have difficulty with body image issues, we all need to learn to love ourselves for who we are without feeling the need to put down anyone else in the process. Otherwise all we do is go from shaming one body type, to shaming a different one, and we continue to live with this relentless pressure to live up to someone else's ill-conceived ideal.

SwimFan1981

Derp

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

Do we really care whether one teenager on the internet thinks thigh gaps are unattractive or unfeminine?

I know I don't.

It's too early in the morning where I live for body shaming.

rml_16

OP, I do not like you. You are a very not nice person. Why in the world do you feel the need to post something like this????

I agree that if you don't have the bone structure for a thigh gap at a healthy weight, it's ridiculous to feel had about not having it. But some women's bodies are built so that they naturally have one and you just told all those women, who can't do anything to change it, that they are unfeminine and ugly.

Shame on you.

SwimFan1981

It is a personal opinion. I also happen to think people that are so overweight that all their curves are overwhelmed by obesity isn't partiuclarly a femine look or attactive either. Everyone has personal prefences. You can't start saying that I can't say that a thigh gap is unattractive. To me it is. Clearly to others it is not. I am interested to why. Is it that you like the way it looks? Or is it something more like a demonstration of achievement, I guess in the same way building muscle might be....?

Surely you have to be at a really low body weight and really low muscle mass, in addition to the right body shape, to achieve a thigh gap?

I don't have a really low body weight or muscle mass and I have a gap. People are designed differently you see, a bit like intelligent people and stupid people, everyone is different....

lacewitch

I have a lovely friend who is tall blonde and slender and naturally has slim thighs and a thigh gap
and she hates it
she spends a lot of time doing squats and lunges to try to bulk up her thighs

also
she can'tdo a lot of moves in pole dancing because she can't grip the pole between her thighs

...
so i suppose i am saying
1. we often waht what we don't have
and
2. to each their own as long as they are not hurting anyone!