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So recently my Inner Thigh Gap printable workout was featured on the College Candy Body Blog. On Tumblr, this post got nearly 3,500 reblogs/likes which is pretty cool. I constantly get emailed about how to achieve the “inner thigh gap” so I thought it’d be a resourceful thing share with you guys. However, the positive reaction that this post received on Tumblr WAS NOT mirrored over at College Candy.
It all started with this comment:
Miss Anonymous (who was the only commenter who was anonymous btw) received a ton of feedback on her comment on how the Inner Thigh Gap workout promoted eating disorders. 40+ comments later we got people saying things like:
Courtney: “Oooh, I think I get it. Working out is “bad” because it means you aren’t happy with you. Forget that it might be healthy, give you energy, and boost endorphins (making you even more happy with you). No we just don’t want to upset the defeated people, so we’ll defeat the confident people and make it an even playing field.”
Leiahna: ”Dear ‘Anonymous’: If you really have enough time to sit around and look for ways to twist words and meanings to the total opposite of what they are actually saying, maybe you should first of all, do the workout cause someone so defensive about this subject obviously does not have the inner thigh gap, and then take your two cents to someone who really cares.”
Allison: “I love how every time a fit woman is shown, people are quick to call it an ‘eating disorder’. Seriously…some people are ridiculous. Stop trying to hide behind your laziness. I do yoga and I jog, and I’m in very good shape and I have this gap. I can assure you it has nothing to do with an eating disorder, and everything to do with taking care of myself. ;)”
Casey: “Since we come in all shapes and sizes, naturally big, naturally small, naturally in-the-middle, how is a picture of a skinny girl exercising promoting an unhealthy image? Or telling people how to tone their legs unhealthy? Why is a picture of a heavy girl eating a hamburger not promoting an unhealthy image? It is, but no one’s actually going to say it because you could damage her self esteem, (apparently skinny girls don’t have self esteem issues) If that picture was posted and someone said, “she needs to put that down and eat some celery” that person would be vehemently attacked. It’s the same thing as calling a skinny girl anorexic, or saying she needs to eat a cookie, but since they’re “skinny” that’s ok, because apparently they already have a leg up and we need to knock them down to size. You know you’ve seen it, we’ve all seen it, skinny girls get put down to raise larger peoples self esteem and it’s just as wrong as calling someone fat.”
Robyn: ”What is an inner thigh gap?? Just when you stand up with your feet hip distance apart and your thighs don’t touch? If that is it, that is so silly! I have curvy (but toned thighs, thank you hot yoga!) and guys love them!”
WOW.
I did not expect that much controversy on such a small workout post. There seems to be a very fine line between motivating people to look/feel their best and promoting an unhealthy body image.
Obviously, I did not make this workout to say “hey you need to workout to get an inner thigh gap because that’s the only way you can be beautiful.” I made this because I wanted to teach you something, I wanted you to learn something, I wanted you to have the tools to create change/gain strength if you wanted, and lastly…YOU ASKED FOR IT!!! :P
Plus…even if it’s just in the title, how is “How to get an inner thigh gap” any worse than “Muffintop Meltdown” or “6 pack Abs”? Remember…let’s be real here…the title is for catching your attention. What you do with it is up to you. My hope is that you do the workout to build strength.
Even though I was kind of surprised/appalled by the comment Anonymous left, I’m glad she did because it brought awareness to my responsibility as a fitness blogger. I get emails asking me for things ranging from lower belly pooch workouts to how to tone your face (yes really) and now I need to more carefully evaluate what’s right to post for our community. I have a responsibility to influence you as positively as I can.
Yes I do post a lot on food substitutions and exercises for so called “trouble zones”, but I am in no way trying to say “hey, you need to lose weight.” I want to be here to encourage you to live a clean and fit lifestyle. Fit to feel good. Fit to have confidence. Fit to be vibrant. Fit to live longer.
Anyway, tell me what you think? Should I be more careful in titling my workouts? Or who cares!!??
