Bye bye beauty trends
Who needs leggings to overthrow the patriarchy?
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A dangerous trend called “Legging Legs” is currently causing mischief on TikTok. This is a gap between the thighs that is considered particularly desirable. Our author asks herself: Haven’t we already made further progress?
The Internet thrives on trends. And anyone who spends a lot of time on social media platforms knows: trends come and go. I have nothing against trends per se. They are fun and create space for creativity. I’ve done a lot of things myself and tried them out. Pink hair, bell-bottoms, clogs – as long as it doesn’t hurt you, except maybe your wallet, go for it. Trends are the cherry on top of capitalism. It is suggested to you that you need item XYZ in your life and then everything will be better – which of course is not true. But it only becomes really dangerous when trends affect your health.
Legging Legs: It couldn’t be more retrograde!
There is currently an alarming trend called “Legging Legs” floating around on TikTok. Under the hashtag #legginglegs, primarily young women present a gap between their thighs – and celebrate themselves for it. It suggests that only people with extremely slim legs are allowed to wear tight pants, and this in turn leads teenagers and young women to question their bodies and their eating habits.
The ideal of beauty is reminiscent of the “thigh gap”, which appeared a few years ago Tumblr made the rounds – and loudly Studies not exactly rarely caused eating disorders. Back then, people might not have been ready to question the impact on young people’s psyches, but now we really have no excuse.
Whatever happened to self-love?
After all, it has even been proven that excessive use of TikTok, Instagram and Co. makes you unhappy. Constant comparison with people who show off their supposedly perfect lives – or their “perfect” thighs – can almost only end in dissatisfaction. With #legginglegs, the discussion about dangerous beauty ideals that are spread on social media is flaring up again. Rightly so. Because haven’t we already gotten there? Were #self-love and #allbodiesbeautiful just trends that are now being replaced?
I hope not. At least there are comments under the videos that question the meaning of these beauty ideals and trends. One user writes: “All legs look beautiful in leggings – we don’t need another ideal that makes us question our bodies.” And another added: “Great, now I have another insecurity about my thighs, thanks TikTok.”
Women’s bodies are not trends
Shockingly, most of the comments under the videos go in a different direction: Young women find the slim legs beautiful and are following the trend. The strange thing is that as an individual you may not like the gap between your legs, but you see it so often that at some point you think you need it too. How many times have I caught myself actually finding something really ugly and then at some point being influenced by society to such an extent that I ended up buying the Crocs (very bulky plastic slippers that you can brighten up with colorful pins). Of course I don’t want to compare rubber shoes with thigh gaps, but it does illustrate that trends come and go.
And unfortunately that’s how it looks with regards to women’s bodies. Practically every female body shape has been popular throughout history: sometimes curvy, sometimes thin, sometimes toned. This is questionable, but at least it suggests that we shouldn’t treat our bodies like a fashion trend. Body shapes are often genetically determined and striving for a certain ideal can be dangerous to your health. You don’t have to constantly find your body beautiful, but accepting it as it is can be liberating. Fortunately, one thing is certain: we don’t need leggings to overthrow the patriarchy.
Sources used: nytimes.com, instagram.com, tiktok.com, watson.de, stern.de, forbes.com