Tumblr is a website that was founded by David Karp in February 2007, but is now owned by Yahoo! Inc. It’s a website that has a micro blogging platform and social network. In other words, Tumblr is a blog where everyday people can reblog (blogging which allows users to repost the content of another user’s post with an indication that the content of the repost) and post any form of media. Tumblr has made a big impact on teens and children in numerous ways. For example, it’s changed the style of almost everything including what brand and clothes to buy, food franchises to eat at, movies to watch and things to obsess over. One obsession that Tumblr has emphasized is thigh gaps.

If you don’t already know what a thigh gap is, it’s a space between the thighs and legs when your feet touch. Pictures of girl’s thin legs and bodies are being reblogged and posted on Tumblr frequently.

These pictures of skinny girls have become an obsession to many female Tumblr users and are having a negative effect on them.  Some girls have scrolled past the pictures of thigh gaps, but they seem to always reappear on their Tumblr dashboard. Having to constantly see these pictures will most likely suck them into this obsession.

“Tumblr made me have a different perspective on what skinny is. Tumblr has pointed out the specific details on being skinny like thigh gaps and collar bones. It makes being skinny too skinny. Before Tumblr I think no one noticed a space between your legs and now they do,” freshman Kiana Carroll said.

Apparently having a skinny body and thigh gap is desired by countless young girls and many of them are so obsessed with achieving this goal that they will do almost anything. For example, they might develop an eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia. They will even use these photos as a new form of “thinspiration” (something that inspires you to be thin). If they suffer from an eating disorder they will lack nutrition and they can become severely unhealthy. Girls are always comparing themselves to one another and so with these photos of course they will compare their bodies to the girls they see on Tumblr. Not everyone has a thigh gap and everyone’s body is different, but these girls don’t seem to understand that. Not only is it considered a “thinspiration”, but a trigger for those who are recovering from an eating disorder.

“Those pictures make me feel like I can’t achieve that and I want a thigh gap because of society’s standard on what beauty is. However, there are body acceptance blogs that show women of different sizes and race. It’s comforting to know that you can beautiful without being skinny,” junior Haley Orman said.

Many of them will develop drastic insecurities and they need to know that they have to accept their bodies and themselves unconditionally, whether they’re skinny, thick, or have a thigh gap.

“These pictures are misleading of thigh gaps because everyone is born differently and people with wide hips have it easier to have a thigh gap and people who aren’t born with wide hips have to be malnourished to get one. That is really unhealthy and it’s better to realize your health is more important,” junior Sky Krickovich said.