# Thigh gaps **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179 "2015-12-23T15:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/41 "2015-12-23T22:50:25Z")
Thigh Gaps are SO 1990’s. Today the rage is all about the [Bikini Bridge.](http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2014/01/08/1226797/246535-c7fbf5fa-77e4-11e3-ae56-4ce697eaa265.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/42 "2015-12-23T23:14:33Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Other than the answer about menstruation: > > First, women have wider hips than men to allow the baby to pass through. In some ways, this is confusing fat with bone structure, but it’s still the case that a woman who is thin thanks to narrow hips may have more trouble delivering. > > Second, it’s relatively rare that humans can count on reliable nutrition during pregnancy. Only in parts of the modern world can we take 2000 calories of nutritious food for granted. Once upon a time, if Og wasn’t able to kill a mammoth, a little extra body fat was the difference between baby surviving or not. That’s true even after the birth when the baby relies on milk. OK but again, plenty of women have relatively wide hips but are very thin–I’d count myself as one of them, for example. Gaining or losing weight isn’t going to change how wide my hips are. And again, none of this says anything about fertility. If supposedly having wider hips makes it easier to give birth, it doesn’t mean anything about how easy it is for a woman to get pregnnat. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/43 "2015-12-23T23:17:20Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I kinda like thigh gaps myself. > > I want my woman to wear corduroy pants without the risk of bursting into flames. > [@running\_coach](#): > > On the other hand, those without thigh gaps can’t sneak up on you. Reminds me of a Golden Girls bit (disclaimer - for the sake of the joke we are ignoring that leg warmers were worn around the ankles and calves): Jazzercise leader, before class: You don’t have leg-warmers? Dorothy: No. JL: Then how do you keep your thighs warm? Dorothy: Friction! ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/44 "2015-12-24T01:46:51Z")
Small, low weight, thin hipped women have babies all the freaking time. Have you seen Asian women’s body types? Ain’t no shortage of Asians! I suggest you all just stop, you’re embarassing yourselves. And this, > [@](#): > > there is a vast difference between the ridicule faced by the overweight than the underweight (females that is). It’s shitty and wrong to judge anyone based on their looks, but I don’t think these to groups have it exactly the same. Fat people truly do get condemned. Buy yeah, shallow, judgmental people are cordially invited to piss off. Not true, but not how you imagine. Society at large, and fashion magazines may indeed embrace skininess. But if you are a skinny girl people don’t hold back out of delicacy, on their opinion of your weight. I’m gonna wager not that many people have said right to your face, “I hate you you’re so fat!”, or perfect strangers commenting on whatever you’re eating, " Must be nice you skinny bitch!" Sure it’s just all good fun right? Who wouldn’t love that as the sound track to their life? Girls who can’t be skinny are often openly and shamelessly judgemental of those who are! Like Mean Girls level! You’re right it’s not ‘exactly the same’, in many, many ways it’s so much worse. People assume you’re ‘shallow and all about your body weight’, probably starving yourself to achieve that weight. You can see it right in this thread! People projecting their shit onto you isn’t fun for fat chicks or skinny chicks be certain of that. But with skinny chicks ain’t nobody holding back, evetybody is just running their mouth right to your face. Consider that it might just be as unpleasant, or more so, than whispers behind your back or telling glances. Sorry to hijack, and it’s not a competition, but can we please stop thinking skinny chicks don’t takes heaps of bullshit too! It’s not exactly the same. It’s loud, vocal, right in your face, non stop bullshit. And it’s just as stupid and misguided. Evolution made women in thousands of different shapes. Just as evolution made men desire women in all their variations. People discussing thigh gaps is beyond ridiculous. Judging people for having, wanting or lacking such a thing borders on complete idiocy. Anyone who thinks different is invited to piss off! ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/45 "2015-12-24T02:01:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I find it incomprehensible that anyone would even care. Even granted that some men think of women as a collection of body parts they want to look at instead of an actual human being, this is a completely arbitrary standard created no more than a couple of years ago. > > Are people so mindless that the immediately accept something like this as an actual standard? Whoa ho, there now, **RChuck** , and I say this with all due respect because I know you are smarter and more observant than the average bear. In fact, that is what is pinging my Bwhaaa?meter. I think the term ,\ “thigh gap” \ may be relatively new, but you cannot really be saying you have not noticed the universal(by which I mean, the Western hemisphere’s)constant, all encompassing emphasis on women to have thin, fit legs. Sure, back in the day we called them “thunder thighs” or “jello thighs”, but women’s struggle to have “good” bodies in general, and very much thin thighs has been ubiquitous for at least the last 40 years. Hence, Suzanne Sommer’s thigh master and any number of devices that are meant to spot reduce (which is futile, but ladies keep buying them because apparently there’s nothing worse than having thighs that rub together). I am totally willing to believe that you are a true gentleman, and as such do not buy into these kind of judgments yourself, but are you really saying that this is a new concept to you? Not trying to call you out or start a spat, but it just feels . . . not like you. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/46 "2015-12-24T02:29:26Z")
> [@bomberswarm2](#): > > I believe i am in a very, very large majority of men who hate thigh gaps on women. They are one of the worst things a woman can have. > Does anyone actually like them? I take no position. decreeing one particular body characteristic as the ideal is toxic and leads people to harm themselves to try to achieve it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/47 "2015-12-24T05:03:12Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > It means that you can stand upright without your thighs touching. . . . Oh… Well, if it’s a body thing, then I don’t give a damn. It’s like knobby knees or jug ears or pointy elbows or flat feet. It’s creepy to judge people for physical characteristics. We ain’t all fashion models. Damn few of us are fashion models! Judging by appearances is vulgar. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > I find it incomprehensible that anyone would even care. Even granted that some men think of women as a collection of body parts they want to look at instead of an actual human being, this is a completely arbitrary standard created no more than a couple of years ago. > > Are people so mindless that the immediately accept something like this as an actual standard? Hear hear. Are we going to sit on park benches and whistle at people, and loudly rate them? “There’s a five! Ooh, a four!” Damned vulgar. (A group of women sitting on a park bench once rated me a “five.” I was smug as sin the whole rest of the day. Five! How cool is that!) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/48 "2015-12-24T05:23:50Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I don’t. > > I was just watching White Christmas with my wife, and noticed Vera-Ellen had a thigh gap, and she was a leading lady way back in 1954. It’s not just a modern thing apparently. Apparently she struggled with anorexia all her life so that thigh gap came at a high price. But, she was a knockout in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/49 "2015-12-24T06:25:10Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I want my woman to wear corduroy pants without the risk of bursting into flames. They run away from you that fast? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/50 "2015-12-24T06:59:50Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Other than the answer about menstruation: > > First, women have wider hips than men _screeching brakes_ Sorry but not quite true. Women’s hips-to-shoulder ratio is usually higher than that of men, that is, for a certain shoulder width a woman’s hips are likely to be wider than those of a man of that same shoulder width. But women do not have wider hips than men except in relationship to other size markers such as shoulder width or height; it’s relative, not absolute. As for the baby birthing part, the shape of the hipbone itself is different. What matters is the size and shape of its central hole, not the size from end to end. I don’t have a thigh gap, but one would make my trousers last longer… I’ll hereby admit to being envious of women whose thighs don’t rub against each other, on merely practical terms rather than aesthetic ones. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/51 "2015-12-24T15:44:53Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > … (A group of women sitting on a park bench once rated me a “five.” I was smug as sin the whole rest of the day. Five! How cool is that!) Good thing they didn’t mention they were using a 1-to-10 (or 15!) point scale. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/52 "2015-12-24T15:47:52Z")
Back to the OP: Given the prevalence of modern marketing of thinness-as-good I find the OP’s contention that a large majority of men _hate_ thigh gaps as truly bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/53 "2015-12-24T16:15:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Back to the OP: > > Given the prevalence of modern marketing of thinness-as-good I find the OP’s contention that a large majority of men _hate_ thigh gaps as truly bizarre. See my post, #34. I believe the OP has _pantalones en el fuego_. ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/54 "2015-12-24T16:30:13Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Could someone please tell me what the devil a “thigh gap” is? An article of clothing? This is thigh gap: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwgw5cBxqI8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwgw5cBxqI8) \<– NSFW ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/55 "2015-12-24T16:31:19Z")
If I am elected, I will do my utmost to eliminate this “thigh gap.” No way will I permit those Godless Commies to have better thighs than our red-bloooded 'Merican girls! ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/56 "2015-12-24T16:35:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Given the prevalence of modern marketing of thinness-as-good I find the OP’s contention that a large majority of men _hate_ thigh gaps as truly bizarre. So how many straight men work in fashion and other fields where thinness is promoted? Not too many. I’m not sure if I’d go so far as to say that I _hate_ thigh gaps, but I certainly hate how thigh gaps are considered a good thing by many. Why would anyone stand in the unnatural pose required to see whether there is a gap in the first place? Dancers tend to have nice legs that are shapely and not too thin. Is there a gap? I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/57 "2015-12-24T16:58:30Z")
I found it weird when I found out about it, too. It’s about as weird as people talking about seeing your clavicle. You don’t need to look at something like that to determine if someone’s legs or arms or whatever look good. Plus it’s a whole package thing. I knew a girl in high school with skinny legs but a more rotund figure and pretty broad shoulders. She was constantly made fun of, called “chicken legs.” And, while I hated being that shallow, it did make her less attractive to me. But if you listened to these thigh gap people, you’d think she was the ideal. Her thigh gap had to have been huge. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/58 "2015-12-24T17:11:18Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Personally, I really like men with small ears. Oh yeah, and freckled shoulders make me weak in the knees. But back to the ears… men with big ears should do something about that. I’d love a tread where we women can rattle off our personal specifications of how we want our men, because, they should just live up to our demands for our viewing pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/59 "2015-12-24T17:23:11Z")
I’m not one of the guys posting all about my preferences. But nevertheless I think I’d enjoy reading your proposed thread. Post forth. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179/60 "2015-12-24T18:19:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m not one of the guys posting all about my preferences. But nevertheless I think I’d enjoy reading your proposed thread. Post forth. Agreed. I mean, _“tall and fit with a good head of hair”_ sure wouldn’t surprise me, but the question is: how do women feel about a guy who has a thigh gap? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thigh-gaps/741179.md?page=4)