Essentially, it just means someone's inner thighs don't touch or rub against each other. "[The thigh gap] is not a standard of health, but an aesthetic standard that is often recommended for women. However, it is an unrealistic beauty ideal for many," says Janet A.
In the 21st century, some people in the West have begun to consider the thigh gap a special feature of physical attractiveness and physical fitness in women. In the United States, it was reported that among teenage girls, a gap had become a beauty ideal.
In practise, it's rare enough that something like 5% women in this world will have a natural thigh gap without resorting to drastic and dangerous measures. Despite this (or maybe because of this) teeny, tiny percentage, thigh gaps have become the most coveted “It accessory”.
You don't need a thigh gap to be a healthy person. In fact, very healthy and athletic women are unlikely to have a thigh gap, even if they have very low body fat. That's because athletic legs have muscle and muscle naturally makes the thighs touch.
Anatomically speaking however, femurs should hang fairly vertical from the pelvis in standing posture. Unless you are underweight or have femurs that are extremely bowed or your hip joints live unusually far apart inside the pelvis, your thighs will touch.
'This is because it's generally not only down to very little body fat but also the width of the hips compared to the length of the femoral head [a bone at the top of the thigh]. Predominantly, it will be down to genetics, bone structure and amount of body fat on the person.
Basically, having a gap between your thighs was considered beautiful, which shamed a ton of women whose thighs naturally touch. The mermaid thigh movement recognizes that other group of women—those who don't have a natural thigh gap—effectively giving every woman a body-positive trend to identify with.
A thigh gap, for the people unfamiliar with it, is a cavity between the inner thighs when standing upright with both feet touching each other. The trend started in 2012 when visuals of models with the thigh gap from Victoria's Secret Fashion Show exploded the internet introducing us to the 'Thigh Gap'.
Genetics and body structure play the biggest role in whether you can gain a thigh gap. Simply put, most women have hips that are set too closely together for there to be a large gap between their thighs, even with very little fat on their legs.
The cultural obsession with thigh gap is returning. But this time, it comes with the insufferable coolness of the 2022 internet.
It's structurally impossible for many women to “achieve” thigh gap. “You're born that way. It's simply that,” notes Mary Jane Detroyer, New York City-based registered dietician and exercise physiologist.
From the idea of a heavy person making thunderous noise while walking.
A person's ability to have a thigh gap largely comes down to their genetic predisposition and bone structure. This means that even naturally slim people won't necessarily have a thigh gap, or that someone who is curvier may have a thigh gap.
Is it normal for your thighs to jiggle? Humans just jiggle. Everyone has skin, fat, and muscle, and sometimes those things shake when you move your body—it doesn't mean something's wrong with you.
The primary determining factor for whether you have a thigh gap isn't body weight, a healthy diet or strength training – it's the width of your hips. Yup, that's it! People with wider hip bones are more likely to have a natural thigh gap, and people with narrow-set hip bones are less likely to have one.
The "Toblerone tunnel" refers to a gap near the top of a woman's thighs resembling a triangular shape similar to a Toblerone candy bar.
Studies have shown that men prefer women with longer-than-average legs and a higher leg-length-to-body ratio. Men's interest in women's legs may explain the preference for tall fashion models. Admiring a woman's legs might have mostly to do with innate attraction to the sensual, rather than the more explicitly sexual.
In other words, belly fat and thigh fat are genetically destined for their final location during development. It's not a difference that's acquired over time, as a result of diet or environmental exposure.
"Why would I want to starve and weaken my natural body size?" Back in February, Cosmo wrote about the 'thigh gap' phenomenon, in which women strive to achieve what, for most of them, is physically impossible – a gap between their upper thighs when their feet are pressed together.
A thigh gap is a space between the inner thighs of someone who is standing with their knees straight and their feet together. It's a so-called standard of beauty particularly applied to women's bodies.
Leg fetishism or crurophilia is the sexual fetish for legs. Individuals may experience a sexual attraction to a particular area such as the thighs, knees, or calves.
"Honey thighs" is a common phrase used among the netizens and also the hormonal males of all ages, to describe a girl/woman with immaculate thighs. But what does this exactly mean? Apparently this phrase is a short way of saying "sweet-as-honey thighs" or "charming as-if they-were-coated-with-honey thighs".
Anatomy of cellulite
As fat cells increase, they push up against the skin. Tough, long connective cords pull down. This creates an uneven surface or dimpling, often referred to as cellulite. Cellulite is a very common, harmless skin condition that causes lumpy, dimpled flesh on the thighs, hips, buttocks and abdomen.
Few women achieve a thigh gap without the assistance of genetics, extreme dieting, or even surgery. In most cases, a thigh gap means a body is underweight. Several of my patients have told me that their weight was dangerously low when they had a thigh gap.
The short answer is that you probably won't lose much if genetics predispose you to fat storage in that area. The longer answer is that you can reduce your body fat with exercise and diet, but you'll lose that fat from all over your body. You can't spot reduce areas of your body with exercise.