Years after the thigh gap took over Tumblr, it appears yet another beauty standard has emerged, ready to dictate how our bodies “should” look, according to tiny White girls on TikTok — legging legs.
While the exact definition of “legging legs” is unclear, the most popular results evoking images of long, thin legs with defined muscle and typically a thigh gap, the term, which dates back to October 2023, per Know Your Meme quickly garnered traction on TikTok.
Yet, as of early this week, the hashtag had appeared to be banned, the term “legging legs” prompting the platform’s “You’re not alone” screen and an option to call the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, a decision that comes as several advocates — including therapist Holly Essler — who urged her followers to “not let social media tell your body that it is a trend.”
"If you have a body and you have leggings, you have ‘legging legs.’ Wear the leggings. Be proud, be confident. You have ‘legging legs,’” the mental health expert said of the “disgusting” term in her now-viral clip on the topic.
Yet Essler wasn’t alone in firing back against the movement.
“We are not doing this!” added Mik Zaznon, a fashion influencer who has candidly spoken about her experiences with eating disorder recovery, taking care to note the genetic component of thigh gaps. “It might be one of the most eurocentric, bulls—t beauty standards I’ve ever heard.”
So whether or not you have legging legs or not, let’s not reduce our bodies to passing trends. 2014 called — they want their thinspo back.
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