There's a strange new body trend out there that's apparently become the latest obsession among teenage girls. It's called "thigh gap." If you're still not familiar with this term, it refers to the clear space between two skinny thighs that don't touch. ABC's Juju Chang sat down with four junior high school girls about the latest trend that teens are now considering "the ideal body shape." How scary is that?
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Believe it or not, the concept isn't exactly new. Women have been obsessing over their thighs for years, but the obsession with super slim thighs and their visible gaps (the kind you see on runway models) has been spreading like a disease, particularly through social media networks like Tumblr.
A growing number of "thigh gap" admirers have created Twitter and Tumblr accounts specifically dedicated to this disturbing phenomenon that includes images of frail thin models with "thigh gaps," along with written declarations of self-hatred. Teens look at celebs, like Kate Moss, Cara Delvinge, and even Victoria's Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel who have thigh gap and they suddenly see it as something to idealize. And if you're still not convinced that this trend is totally getting out of control, you should probably know that's there's even a Twitter account out there called @CarasThighGap. Ugh.
Our teens are by nature, self-conscious enough. The last thing they need is to be reading dysfunctional blogs made by other teens that are proudly encouraging self-hate and self-harm. Dangerous images like that are only going to lead young women to fall into eating disorders, like anorexia in efforts to achieve these unrealistic standards of beauty. And I honestly still don't see what's so beautiful about "thigh gap" anyway! They're Photoshop creations for the most part, I'm sure!
These girls aren't even trying to achieve these gaps to impress the teenage boy of their dreams. No–it's more like they're trying to impress their female friends. "Thigh gap" has become a status quo thing among many teen girls.
Ironically enough, the first time I heard about "thigh gap" I was around 17-years-old and I don't even think they called it that back then. But I do remember kids talking about it, like it was the most horrifying thing ever. So much so, that whenever I'd see a model or–God forbid–a real person with a visible space between their thighs, I'd instantly cringe. Why? Because to me it clearly indicated that that person was very underweight. So the fact that this has now become something that young women are glorifying is frankly extremely worrisome!
Image via Victoriassecret.com
