International body standards have always been unrealistic and quite ridiculous. On social  media, they start trends encouraging women to starve themselves in order to get the “ideal†body image. DANA DA SILVA looks at the thigh-gap trend, and a jewellery company that isn’t what it seems.
Social media trends come and go, but for some reason, people have an unhealthy obsession with those that focus on body image. These unrealistic and “ideal†trends have taken the form of the #ThighBrow, #PlumpLips, #A4Waist, #BikiniBridge and #VisibleRibCage. Most of them, even if you are unhealthily skinny, you wouldn’t be able to achieve.
The thigh gap, which is the gap between your thighs when you stand with your feet touching, is one of them. Recently, a jewellery company popped up online that “designs accessories specifically for thigh gap.†These designs are 18 carat gold chains that loop around the tops of the thighs and hang in the space created by your concave thighs.
Before you lose hope in humanity though, it turns out the site was a hoax. When people try to order the jewellery, they soon realise the site is fake. Soo Kyung Bae, the creator of the jewellery, wrote on the page saying that “It is launched to catalyze a debate on unrealistic body image social media portrays.†If you click on “find out more about TGap Jewellery”, you are redirected to a page with statistics about body image, and even advice on how to get help.
She explained the truth of the thigh gap – it doesn’t matter if you’re toothpick skinny or of average size. You can only have a thigh gap because of your bone structure, the shape of your pelvic girdle and on the distance between your hipbones. It actually has nothing to do with the size of your thighs, your BMI, or your body fat. If you desperately want it and have pesky narrow hips, then the only way to get it is through bone surgery. Which seems like a step too far.
The body-positive website has people talking, but we think it’s time to pay less attention to these ridiculous trends and learn to love ourselves.
