Thighs the Limit.

The new dark obsession clouding over women of all ages. The thigh gap. We've all seen it and we all have an opinion on it, but who is right? If you type in 'leg gap' on Google you will see how this issue has us all divided, half the sites will be pro gap, encouraging you to work on your own gap and how to achieve it and half will be telling you the real problems and effects of having 'the gap'. (For those of you who have read this far and are confused, a thigh gap is a cavity that appears at the top of your thighs when your feet and knees are placed together.) The general consensus at the moment seem to be that if you want to be pretty, attractive or have the perfect body then your thighs must not be able to touch! It's not physically natural or normal for us to have a gap in our thighs, without being underweight or not yet a fully grown adult, although I want to make it clear i'm not trying to attack anyone and some people do actually have thigh gaps naturally but it's natural to them not something they have had to possibly harm their bodies to achieve.
Yes we all want lovely toned and slim thighs but there really is a limit. Your body needs that bit there and it needs body fat to provide you with a bit of padding so you don't damage your bones and organs. Also it produces oestrogen and other hormones which is something all of us need, it's not really optional, so pushing your body to achieve this highly unattainable fad is damaging your body in more ways than you can count!
People are pushing their bodies to extremes to try and achieve that gap, there are numerous tumblr accounts encouraging you to do severe things such as only eat one small slice of apple every two hours! or grab that fat   to get the gap? Another way people are getting the gap is through Lipoglaze (cosmetic surgery). Lipoglaze is basically where they freeze your inner thigh fat to get rid of it! The Harley street clinic in London has reported a 240% increase in this procedure in the last year!
I thought that society was starting to understand being healthy is key, and was encouraging curves and all healthy body shapes among women but now this! It's like we are taking a step backwards again and it's quickly spreading to the younger generations. Again we are telling them that eating disorders are OK and they should have them to look good. Just like the models. That's where this has all trickled down from but people seem to forget those women really do push their bodies, it's part of the job and hard work, it's not as glamorous as everyone thinks.
I know some women have this gap naturally no matter how hard they try, they will always have it, and that's how you are, its healthy and obtainable for them, they're not purposely doing it to themselves but I would really encourage women who don't have this naturally not to conform to the fad! Your lovely as you are, Touchy things and all, you should just aim to be healthy and happy not worry about this issue. It's just another obsession that we don't need.

Also I would like to add the argument from the other side. Its wrong to attack slimmer women for being skinny if thats how they are and it's healthy for them!
A friend of mine has been picked on, on tumblr, because she has a thigh gap but she is tall and slim and thats how her body is no matter what she tries!
I know some people have said how its a way of making curvy girls feel better about themselves, having the whole 'curvy girls are beautiful, skinny girls aren't' and 'real women have curves'  in the same way skinny people feel the need to say 'curves are ugly and skinny is better'. Neither is better, as long as everyone's healthy and this really is the point i'm trying to make! :)


k.


(P.s I'm honestly not trying to offend anyone, just trying to raise awareness of this issue and voice my opinion. I'm sharing this in hopes that people will gain a bit more of an understanding on the issue, the last thing I want in the world is for anyone to feel bad, harm their bodies or themselves, just trying to promote a happy, healthy world!)