The media is not exactly known for keeping things on the down low, especially with the thousands of advertisements we are bombarded with on a daily basis.  There are a handful of advertisements, geared toward women in particular, that purposely emphasize the perfect body as a size zero with flawless hair and makeup, as well as the famous, or maybe infamous, thigh gap.

 Not everyone wants a thigh gap, but the measures some girls are willing to take is disturbing, to the point where I ask myself, how far the media will go and how hard girls will try to get a thigh gap?  Girls are notorious for being overly judgmental about their bodies because it is almost second nature for people to point out the flaws.  Someone wears a dress that is a bit form fitting, and they get slammed instantly, no questions asked.  A model’s thighs touch, and they are ridiculed and called names.

 The media glamorizes having a thigh gap in such a way that I feel like some girls think it is socially unacceptable to not have a thigh gap, which makes me fear that crash dieting and hard exercise is much closer for them than it may appear.  While some dieting and a little exercise is perfectly harmless, too much of it means you are essentially flirting with eating disorders as well as negative mental and emotional health.

 “Why does it matter?” is the question that has always been on my mind.  Why is the thigh gap given the same importance as the Holy Grail?  For something that is literally nonexistent, it has more importance than anything that is existent.

 The main problem here is that we try too hard to please others.  Are we trying to please ourselves or the rest of society by getting a thigh gap?  We are too hard on ourselves; we believe that whatever we have or do is not good enough.  When thinking about what this means for girls who are trying to get a thigh gap, you realize that they are compromising their social and mental health just so they can mess with their body’s natural alignment because society indirectly justifies it.

 It is ridiculous to think that people feel the need to impress society by doing dangerous things to their bodies.  What is even more upsetting is that so many, girls in particular, look up to the media; they take whatever is dished out to them too seriously.  They don’t realize the media is toying with their minds, giving off the allusion that they will be accepted once they have a thigh gap.

 Social media is guilty of this, in that there are people who create accounts that are dedicated to a certain model or celebrity’s thigh gap.  Thigh gaps even have their own hashtag, which makes it that much easier for a girl to wander onto the page and start flipping through the many pictures, completely unaware that they have already let society dominate their choices.

 What makes the matter worse is that people are waving the early signs of it away, when in reality, waving them away makes things worse.  Simply telling someone that they should love their body the way it is and that there is nothing wrong with them does not solve the problem.  Truthfully, the only person that can solve the problem is the teenage girl who is starving herself to get a thigh gap.  People can say anything they want to, but it is only a reality if the person who is being told all of these things believes in it.