A body resembling the shape of a Barbie doll, big lips with thick eyebrows to match, and now the gap between the upper thighs are all criteria some girls base their body upon. The thigh gap is glorified by many teenage girls, at times causing eating disorders and intense social media wars.

Senior Lizzy Trimble believes society’s standards are to blame for the controversy.

“We have to act a certain way: you can’t be too outgoing because then you’ll surpass men, but you can’t just want to be a stay at home mom, that’s not allowed anymore,” Trimble said. “Beauty is just another aspect of that.”

Trimble first discovered the popular thigh gap through social media, and immediately fell under its spell.

“When I first discovered thigh gaps on Tumblr, I was like, ‘I want one of those.’ I guess I thought they were a good ideal to have,” Trimble said. “Then about a year ago, I was like, ‘But I don’t need one, that would be unhealthy.’”

Trimble is not the only one to have wanted the gap between the upper thighs. Senior Madison Ward feels social media is a major influence onto the thousands of girls wanting the perfect body.

“They see a lot of models and celebrities and they’re like, ‘oh, I wanna be like her,’” Ward said. “Every day is something new. Whether it’s thigh gaps or people with bellies or muffin tops, nothing on social media gets better. If anything it gets worse.”      

Though many sources such as The Fitness Focus claim thigh gaps are formed based on genetics and the body’s natural structure, girls of all shapes and sizes continue to obsess over the idea of having the gap. Some girls  nutrition to have the gap they find attractive, yet many males have no interest in whether a girl has a thigh gap or not.

“I didn’t even know it was a real thing,” senior Devin Howard said. “In my opinion, it’s like saying ‘I have green eyes, you have blue eyes. Why is that going to be a big deal?”

Junior Dylan Guess says he does not pay any attention to the gap between a girl’s thighs, but instead directs his focus to her facial features.

“I notice either her personality or her eyes, because eyes are really pretty,” Guess said.

Both boys believe it is ridiculous to stress over the the gap in between the thighs, for it is only another fad the world has latched onto.

“I think beauty standards are stupid,” Guess said. “We as a society should stay away from them, not everybody can be ‘perfect.’”