Still worried about your lips being too small, your armpit skin too plentiful, your nose too big, your lack of a thigh gap and thighbrows? No? Congratulations! You’ve managed to escape some of the truly shittiest and most unrealistic body standards sweeping the social medias of young celebrities and Instagram stars. But if you thought you’d get out of the cesspit that is 2017 without one more body part to worry about, WELCOME TO HELL MY FRIEND!
Just as we began to move away from #mermaidthighs, a curve-spirational hashtag which emerged as the antithesis to the thigh gap, we now have thighlighting and can all go back to hating our legs. What is thighlighting? Glad you asked.
Thighlighting describes a medley of plastic surgery procedures designed to give someone’s legs a full-on makeover. A makeover FOR YOUR LEGS. It’s an all-in-one leg spectacular, combining thigh lifts, liposuction, inner thigh trimming, and even calf implants in order to achieve gams comparable to those of Bella Hadid.
“Thighs are always an area of concern for women,” Dr. Gabriel Chu told the Hollywood Reporter, before going on to explain that changing the shape of a certain body part also drastically changes the look of the body. Who would’ve thought? “Also, thighs are an area that makes a dramatic difference in the overall body. When contoured right to elongate the legs, they can help create a better proportion, thus the entire physique looks leaner and longer.”
Apparently celebrities like the Hadid sisters and J.Lo donning thigh-high split dresses on the red carpet are building pressure for women to have super slim and long sculpted legs. THR reports a surge in the number of women asking for legs like Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Karlie Kloss, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner.
Just so we’re clear here, thighlighting isn’t a simple procedure. It isn’t even nowhere near as simple as the relatively complicated and invasive surgeon that is liposuction. Surgeons say women are now asking for sculpted legs and not just slim ones, which requires the legs to be contoured in unique ways for every individual.
“I see many women who are in good shape and can weigh literally 110 pounds but who just do not have the best or ideal proportion or sculptural shape to their thighs,” said Dr. David Amron. “I have a specific way of addressing my thighlighting, which I refer to as body blending.”
These surgeries are invasive, painful, hella expensive and require plenty of recovery time, so thighlighting is a huge commitment to say the least. Before you even consider thighlighting, think about the fact that surgeons will literally pull and maneuver your inner muscles in all sorts of crazy ways so they don’t tear the connection to your knee caps. This cannot be good for the future health of your legs.
Besides, body trends and beauty standards change drastically throughout history. Maybe big ole soft thigh thighs that touch and a little bit of stretch marks and cellulite will be the Next Big Thing. A girl can hope.