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thigh gaps

Have you heard about the thigh gap obsession? The first time I became aware that thigh gaps even existed or mattered to people was my freshman year in college. I was sitting in my dorm common area and this guy I knew was looking outside the window. I remember he said, "Wooooooah, come check this out." So I did. He was looking at this girl walk across the yard and the next thing out of his mouth was, "Check out the gap between her thighs." I must admit, I didn't quite understand his excitement but I knew that it was a positive attribute (at least to him) based on his reaction. Years went by and I never really thought about thigh gaps again.

Until one day post college I was walking down LaBrea and I remember feeling my thighs rub against each other. It was one of those really hot LA summer days where people were dressed in bathing suits and cut off shorts and wedge heels. I remember thinking how annoying it was that my thighs were rubbing together and that I needed to lose weight. When I think about it now, I definitely was in a place in life where I was unhappy and I had in fact gained weight. But it's interesting that I didn't become aware of it until I had that moment with my thighs. 

You probably see countless thigh gaps every day and aren't even conscious of it. All you have to do is look at a fashion advertisement and you'll see one. Models have had them for years, so it's not surprising that teen girls are now obsessed with trying to obtain thigh gaps as well. If you still aren't sure what I'm talking about, here are a couple of definitions.

"A thigh gap is actually the hollow cavity which appears between the tops of your legs when you stand with your feet together. It also means that your body is underweight."

"It's basically when your upper middle thighs do not touch when you're standing with your legs together." - Robyn Lawley, Model

Thigh gaps have a cult following now with people in the eating disorder communities too. If you look on social media you'll find plenty of images and boards hash tagged #thighgap. And I even found an article on how to get a thigh gap. Yikes! Of course there are those rare few individuals who naturally have a thigh gap just like there are women who naturally have D sized breasts. But if you don't have it naturally, why harm yourself to get it?

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