I've been thinking about writing this post for a while.. but kept putting it off as I really don't want to sound like a bitter thunder-thighed blogger. The thing is though, that I have spent so long (like most of us) stalking celebrities on Instagram that I can now whole-heartedly say I'm really quite fond of my touching thighs and genuinely think that the whole obsession with having a 'thigh gap' is just totally mental and seriously unhealthy.

The fact is, I'm a size 10 jeans, so whilst my thigh's circumference is quite big in comparison to say, my waist (or to some of my friends' long thin limbs), they are clearly not totally out of control or majorly unsightly. I'm pretty sure I could loose about a stone and my thighs would still touch - it's pretty much just the way they hang from my hips.

When I was younger I used to dance a lot - at one point for a couple of hours every single day - and I was at my lowest weight... yet I still distinctly remember getting hot angry thigh chafe on holiday in Greece. Overshare? Not sorry.

I think it's absolutely ridiculous that even major celebrities like BEYONCE are feeling the need to (quite obviously) photoshop their snaps and I often think that if I'm feeling like this at a size 10/12 ,how must that make properly bootylicious ladies feel. Beyonce was once a champion for 'real' women and proudly shook her booty round the world to promote her empowering tunes.

I'm not even going to lie, on the back of the Beyonce photos surfacing, I searched for and downloaded an android app with the 'liquify' tool included, just to see what I could do to my own photos. I like to pride myself on being quite immune to media pressure but clearly something got to me subconsciously and made me give this a go. 

(Left: Queen B as we know and love her. B&W shots: Her photoshopped Instagram shots.)

A while ago, a couple of my guy mates showed me a Facebook fan page called The Gap. No really. It's basically a page of soft-porn imagery showing girls from behind, bending over forwards. Putting aside the horrific view of denim short wedgies, I can't help but think some of these girls must be starving and that a few of them have legs that are starting to look bowed. Don't get me wrong, if you're naturally skinny, toned and healthy then YOU GO GLEN COCO, but I don't think a page like this is quite okay anyway. 

The absolute worst thing I ever read on this subject (admittedly on the Daily Mail so we take it with a pinch of salt and a prayer that it's not true) is that some cosmetic surgery clinics in America are offering Thigh Gap treatments, where liposuction and sculpting are used to increase the air space between the thighs. If, like me, you're naturally a curvier build with wider hips, this is surely just going to look immediately unnatural?! How do they even gauge who is mentally fit for this surgery? What do you have to prove - "my thighs make me miserable" - to be accepted?

I'm not at all saying that all eating disorders and psychological conditions (e.g. body dismorphia) are a direct result of celebrities giving their Instagram selfies a bit of a nip and tuck - the problems behind these conditions run far deeper. However, I do really think in general, the media and everyday women need to celebrate 'real' far more. We should all try to be proud of what we've got and learn to compliment each other rather than obsess over who's thighs are thinner and who's got the best winter break body this year. It's just beyond depressing!

(Some proper curvy and gorgeous celebs which we should all feast our eyes on.)