{UAH} EM. Mbu Shut up about "Thigh Gap". Guys here it is!
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5:12 AM |
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Stop going on about the 'thigh gap', and please stop photoshopping it in
'Thigh gaps' are everywhere, with some major brands even showing them in photographs of their products, and Radhika Sanghani is starting to worry about what it's doing to insecure teenage girls
I first heard about thigh gaps a few years ago. I looked down at my own legs and saw that my thighs rubbed at the top; alas, I didn’t have a complete thigh gap. I joked about my faux-disappointment to my very good-looking male friend (who I secretly fancied) and he quite seriously replied: “I love when girls have a thigh gap. It’s so attractive.”
Naturally, he immediately went from being my friend to just ‘some idiot I used to know’, but his words have stuck with me as the thigh gap has steadily gained prominence over the past few years. It started out as just another female body part that was being dissected and scrutinised – much like the ‘thutt’ (thigh butt), ‘cankles’ (calf ankles) and ‘side boob’ – but unlike the other trends, the thigh gap’s status seems to keep on rising.
Articles about ‘how you can get a thigh gap’ have sprung up across the internet, and legitimate brand shops have even started advertising their clothes with a thigh gap. Take Old Navy. The American brand, which is also popular in the UK, has recently come under fire for having a ‘photoshopped’ pair of plus-size jeans.
An amateur photoshopper seems to have carefully edited the image of the jeans to create an obvious thigh gap that wouldn’t exist on someone wearing them. The company says it does not “use any photo-altering techniques to deliberately distort the actual look or fit of our product,” as it told Jezebel. The images on the website have since been changed, but how a misleading image like that could have appeared on their website is totally beyond me.
But it isn’t just one company showing photographs of the thigh gap. Hollister, sister company of Abercrombie and Fitch, and British teens’ go-to clothes shop, has been accused of advertising a summer dress on a model who has severely skinny legs. Her thigh gap was clearly visible in a shot of the dress posted on Hollister's Facebook and Twitter pages, and after an onslaught of complaints and ‘ew’s on Twitter, Hollister removed the picture.
It told Business Insider: "Leading a healthy and active lifestyle is a core part of our brand and company culture. We think these are qualities that appeal to our customer base. Because the photo may not have been consistent with this message, we have removed it."
<noframe>Twitter: Ana González - <a href="http://www.twitter.com/HollisterCo" target="_blank">@HollisterCo</a> her legs are horrible, TOO SLIM</noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: Jacqueline - <a href="http://www.twitter.com/HollisterCo" target="_blank">@HollisterCo</a> pretty girl! But her legs are too slender</noframe>
But I imagine the damage was already done. Young teens looking at the website probably saw the girl and unconsciously absorbed the image. I have a feeling it will have stayed with them, even after it was removed, and even if they initially expressed distaste at the image. I bet some of them went away feeling slightly insecure and confused about the way their own legs look.
The same thing happened to me when my male friend told me he found thigh gaps attractive. Yes, I replied with a feminist rant and looked down on him, but– the part I feel really guilty about – is that I did start to think perhaps I would look more attractive/pretty/sexy if my thighs were a bit more toned and defined.
My strong inner voice told my insecure self to shut up and carry on eating that cake, but sometimes when I look in the mirror, that moment comes back to me. Maybe men like that ex-friend of mine would like me more if I went to the gym?
If I, someone with no major body image issues and a pretty down-to-earth attitude, can be so swayed be a singular comment, then I can only imagine the devastating damage that photoshopped thigh gaps will do to younger teenage girls with body image complexes.
It is why I completely condemn the behaviour of anyone trying to promote a body part that most young women will never have. Brands have a duty to their customers to be honest, and if they can’t seem to manage that, then at the very least, to not wreak havoc on their self-esteem and body image.
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