Alexis Williams | Assistant News Editor

Have you heard of the thigh gap? How about #mindthegap? Well, if you haven’t heard of them, then lucky you. However, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram have made it almost impossible to ignore the trend of the “thigh gap.” Additionally, if social media wasn’t enough, now the popular brand of LuLu Lemon has made it clear that if you do not have the thigh gap, their products were not made for you.

Now, what is the “thigh gap” you ask? Well, it is literally the space between a woman’s thighs. Whether or not your thighs touch is supposedly the sole measurement of being skinny and fit, versus being overweight and fat. The “thinspiration” boards on Pinterest have brought this obsession to new levels. In fact, the trend has been connected to numerous amounts of eating disorders and unhealthy fad diets.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have been that girl that has tried a new fad diet every three months to see if I could lose a pound or ten, or even exercised twice a day in an attempt to look like a Victoria Secret Angel. After multiple failed attempts, I have finally found peace with my own body. I’ve learned that I was not made to be a size 0, or a size 2, or even a size 4, but either way I am still beautiful.

Recently, founder of LuLu Lemon came out to let people know that the perceived poor quality of his products is not based upon the material used to create his products but rather the “wrong size” of women who choose to wear them. Specifically, he credits the problem to the rubbing between women’s thighs that causes wear and tear on his product.

If I would have been there to hear this absurd statement, I doubt I would respond as gracefully as I will today. If my $10 pair of leggings from Marshalls, $40 yoga pants from Victoria’s Secret, and my $14 tights from the Buckle can withstand the “rough” rubbing of my thighs, then it should be no problem that your $130 pair of workout leggings could withstand this “pressure” as well. To say that my weight and size are the sole reasons your product doesn’t work as it should, is completely ludicrous. It is very clear that the problem lies in the quality of your brand and your company and not with your loyal LuLu wearers.

I am sick of seeing people obsess over being thin. All bodies are different and more importantly all bodies are beautiful. If my thighs touch… well, so what? I will still wear yoga pants and leggings—maybe even rock leggings as pants. Who is to tell me that my body isn’t beautiful enough to wear what I choose? Similarly, who is to tell me that my thighs need to not touch if I want to be considered beautiful and fit? This trend is completely ridiculous. Some bodies simply were not made to have a thigh gap, and some genes that run in families show that being a size 2 was just not meant to be. The idea that everyone could be stick thin and have a large thigh gap is too unrealistic; we have to be practical in how we view beauty and of what we expect from ourselves. I hope everyone realizes that beauty comes in all shapes, colors, and sizes. If I have learned to love my curvy, hourglass, thigh-touching body, then so can anyone else.

Graphic by Aaron Burns