Growing trend
On Wednesday reality TV star Millie Mackintosh posted a picture of herself wearing a nude corset.
The image generated a large amount of comment, centring mainly on her "thigh gap".
While many people condemned her for sharing such a picture on social media, others were full of praise and envy for her look.
Of course Millie isn’t the only celebrity to raise eyebrows due to her skinny frame – in recent months talk of the thigh gap has escalated once again and the debate about it’s appropriateness has reached boiling point.
What is it?
Type thigh gap into Google and you’ll find it has it’s own Wikipedia page, followed by a wikiHow page describing how to achieve the look.For those of you who have managed to escape hearing about the fad, it’s described by the Urban Dictionary as: “The gap between a women's thighs directly below the vagina, often diamond shaped when the thighs are together.”
Most women physically can never achieve this as it is natural for your thighs to touch, I repeat natural.
Unfortunately that doesn’t stop people from trying their hardest to shed the pounds – putting themselves physically and even mentally in danger.
Of course there are a few out there – say Cara Delevingne for example (who has a whole Instragram dedicated to her thigh cap) who are born slim.
The question is though do women in the public eye have a responsibility to censor what they are sharing with their fans, many of whom are very young and who are not naturally slim.
It's important to point out that Cara sees her thigh gap as a fault, she previously said: “My body is not perfect, and I love that. I have bow legs. Some people have straight legs but I have bow legs. And a thigh gap.”
Women influence other women: Fact
Dec 04, 2014 11:42
By Fay Strang
Isn't it time celebrities start to take responsibility for promoting healthy body image?
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Growing trend
On Wednesday reality TV star Millie Mackintosh posted a picture of herself wearing a nude corset.
The image generated a large amount of comment, centring mainly on her "thigh gap".
While many people condemned her for sharing such a picture on social media, others were full of praise and envy for her look.
Of course Millie isn’t the only celebrity to raise eyebrows due to her skinny frame – in recent months talk of the thigh gap has escalated once again and the debate about it’s appropriateness has reached boiling point.
camillamackintosh / instagram
What is it?
Type thigh gap into Google and you’ll find it has it’s own Wikipedia page, followed by a wikiHow page describing how to achieve the look.
For those of you who have managed to escape hearing about the fad, it’s described by the Urban Dictionary as: “The gap between a women's thighs directly below the vagina, often diamond shaped when the thighs are together.”
Most women physically can never achieve this as it is natural for your thighs to touch, I repeat natural.
Unfortunately that doesn’t stop people from trying their hardest to shed the pounds – putting themselves physically and even mentally in danger.
Of course there are a few out there – say Cara Delevingne for example (who has a whole Instragram dedicated to her thigh cap) who are born slim.
The question is though do women in the public eye have a responsibility to censor what they are sharing with their fans, many of whom are very young and who are not naturally slim.
It's important to point out that Cara sees her thigh gap as a fault, she previously said: “My body is not perfect, and I love that. I have bow legs. Some people have straight legs but I have bow legs. And a thigh gap.”
Thigh Gap
Women influence other women: Fact
Research shows that women do unfortunately compare themselves to other women and shocking our figures and dress size have less effect on the way we feel about ourselves than the effect other women have on us.
Professor Sarah Grogan, Centre for Health Psychology, Staffordshire University revealed recently: “Our data suggests that there remains significant social pressure to be slender in the UK.
“In recent interviews, most women reported that they want to look 'slender and shapely' with low body fat, toned muscles, and a defined waist.
"We know from experimental research in psychology that viewing images of very thin women can lead to lower body satisfaction.
“This happens when we make what are called 'upward comparisons' between our body and those of women whose bodies we are viewing (viewing their bodies as more favourable). Making these kinds of comparisons may be dangerous for our body image.”
The first step to close the gap
So, what can we do to change image perceptions?The first step has to be celebrities taking responsibility for their actions.
Next time they are about to post a picture of themselves in their underwear on a photo shot, they should ask themselves – ‘how would a teenage girl stuck at school feel looking at that picture?’
Yup. The answer isn't hard to see, is it?
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