Why women around the world are posting photos of their thighs on social media

Women everywhere are taking to social media to share photos of their thighs and adding to the growing conversation on what women’s bodies should look like.

No matter where we look, whether it’s online, in print, or on television, women are faced with unrealistic expectations of beauty. Nearly unattainable trends (unless you’ve got blessed genes), such as ‘A4 waist challenge’ and ‘Belly button challenge’, lead to women developing an unhealthy obsession with their bodies.

But now, we’re pleased to report that a new body-positive trend is seeming to arise: Meet #ThighsForJeaux, a hashtag spawned by confident women with confident bodies and thighs.

On August 26 (Friday), Twitter in South Africa was turned into a body-positive stream of photos when 21-year-old Mixo (@Mijeaux) prompted her followers to tweet her a picture of their unfiltered thighs.

She declared that in the hot summer weather, no one should feel like they have to hide their bodies or be restricted by the opinions of others regardless of what they look like, and posted a picture of her own bare legs in a summer outfit using the hashtag #ThighsForJeaux. Her followers began doing the same and by the afternoon, the hashtag was trending in South Africa, reported Huff Post.

“Something that motivated me to start the hashtag is how often people/ women are judged for showing their thighs, especially if their thighs are deemed imperfect by societal standards,” Mixo told Mariec Claire about her popular body positive movement and the story behind it.

Now, women everywhere are taking to social media to share photos of their thighs and adding to the growing conversation on what women’s bodies should look like.

The #ThighsForJeaux movement is a direct response to sexist trends like the thigh gap that have taken over Instagram and Twitter in recent years. The thigh gap trend, for instance, basically said that having a gap between women’s thighs was considered beautiful, shaming a ton of women whose thighs naturally touch.

The #ThighsForJeaux trend recognises that other group of women — those who don’t have a natural thigh gap — effectively giving every woman a body-positive trend to identify with.

#ThighsForJeaux’s message? If your thighs touch, great. If your thighs don’t touch, great. Every set of thighs is beautiful, whether you have a thigh gap or not.

Thousands of women have already shared their #ThighsForJeaux pictures on Instagram and Twitter, and more are joining the movement every day. Keep the confidence going, ladies! It’s seriously inspiring.

Now, see some #ThighsForJeaux photos below.