Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson refuted customers' complaints about the company’s signature yoga pants being see-through on some women by saying that the sheerness factor was due to women with fat thighs, specifically, to women without thigh gaps. After facing a public relations backlash, Wilson announced he was stepping down as chairman of the company.
A thigh gap is a space between the inner thighs of women when standing upright with knees touching. A thigh gap has become an aspect of physical attractiveness that has been associated with fragility and femininity. In the United States, it has been reported that among teenage girls, a gap has become a beauty ideal. Achieving a thigh gap is difficult for many women and has led to cases of extreme dieting or even surgery in order to try to obtain it. The thigh gap craze has been criticized as physically unnatural and a mostly unachievable body shape goal, as well as a cause of eating disorders (The Fitness Focus).
He insinuates that exercise and his apparel are exclusive to those who are already extremely skinny. He makes it seem that a thigh gap is a result of proper health and exercise. Being healthy and exercising is a practice that welcomes all kinds of people, with all kinds of bodies and is not limited but rather personalized to the individual.
Before I explain why you should listen to my opinion on body types and thigh gaps, let me give you my credentials. I was one of the first and youngest dancers to be invited to train at the Vaganava Academy, the world finest ballet training school in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I’ve completed 15 years of classical ballet training. I was a model for Women’s Health, Pilates Style and Pilatesology. I am the daughter of a former professional dancer for a top New York City Company. I am a daughter of a nationally ranked fighter and a world famous Pilates instructor. I am a sister and cousin of someone who received a world class education while playing college football or track. I am the niece of a jiu jitsu master and a D1 dual athlete in football and wrestling and a best friend to a D1 gymnast. Creating a body that creates success and health runs in my family, Im surrounded by it, I live it. Then think about the bodies of the most successful female athletes of our era; Serena Williams, Hope Solo, Maria Sharapova, or Ronda Rousey. So I have one question, Chip, why don’t a single one of us have a thigh gap?
Because it’s not natural or healthy. According to The Anorexia Nervosa and Associate Disorders Organization up to 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (Anorexia, Bulimia, and binge eating disorders) in the U.S. Of those 30 million people, 85 to 95 percent of them are female. Then when companies like Lululemon, who targets women, make claims that their clothing is designed for people who have unattainable bodies, it endorses the idea that performing unhealthy actions to a body is acceptable.
So Mr. Wilson, are you really trying to say someone who modeled for one of the most acclaimed fitness magazines isn't actually a fit person? I guess so. Okay Lululemon, I’ll take my nice, toned and self respecting butt far, far away from your company and give my money, endorsement, and advertisement elsewhere. Congrats on your ignorance. Tootles.
