TikTok users SLAM ‘disgusting and toxic’ ‘legging legs’ trend that sees women showing off their thigh gaps in skin-tight workoutwear – warning fad is encouraging eating disorders among young girls

What exactly is the ‘legging legs’ scandal taking over TikTok – and why is this craze so ‘harmful’ and ‘toxic’ according to some social media users?

Many young women on the video sharing platform define the term ‘legging legs’ to mean a thigh gap visible in the spandex pants – but this has proven controversial.

The search for “legging legs” on TikTok yields a combination of videos: young women showing off their thigh gaps in spandex under the search term “perfect legging legs,” along with women speaking out against the “toxic” trend.

Women on social media are baffled and think the trend is bringing back the ‘thigh gap’ for Gen Z and encouraging unhealthy eating habits.

Gen Z women are showing off their thigh gaps in leggings on TikTok, including the content creator Mia Griggs20, New Jersey.

A few followers loved the content, with one commenting, “So beautiful girl.”

However, others were less impressed, saying that anyone can wear leggings and should feel comfortable in them, no matter what their body looks like.

‘Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. You have them. Congratulations,” someone snapped.

“I always thought of leggings as leggings that I could use to get comfortable, especially when nothing else would fit,” read another comment.

One user fought back with, “all legs are leggings legs,” while another agreed, “how to get leggings legs: 1. Have legs, 2. Wear leggings.”

Influencer Mik Zazon, whose content focuses on comfortable fashion and recovery from eating disorders, made a video basing the body shaming trend, which she shared with her 1.7 million followers.

The health and fitness coach from Columbus, Ohio, clarified, “People with thigh gaps only have them because of their genetics, because of their bone structure, because of their hip structure.”

“Now we have young girls who think they were born wrong,” the wellness influencer continued.

“These trends have to stop,” Mik said.

‘Social media is so harmful and toxic that right now we have young girls who think they can’t wear an essential wardrobe that is comfortable and can be worn with so many different things because they don’t have a thigh gap.

“Our only goal in life is not to fit into clothes and to fit into any beauty standard because it changes every few weeks, if not weekly,” Mik told her followers.

She ended the video by proclaiming, “We don’t do this.”

And Mik’s followers completely agreed with her message.

‘I wear leggings on my legs, that’s why I have leggings legs. Thanks,” one commenter joked.

“I’m on the side of social media where I only heard about leg laying from people who got mad about it,” wrote another.

Some took the trend a bit too far, with one woman writing: ‘Easy to say when you have perfect legging legs.’

“I can’t even remember if my thighs have ever been separated, they depend on each other,” one commenter joked.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, the response was much the same.

Some users shared photos asking if they had ‘legging legs’, while others worried history was repeating itself and begged for the trend to stop.

One person tweeted: ‘People acting like ‘legging legs’ is new when it’s just been renamed ‘thigh gap’?

“Influences, advertising and the media will recycle these ideas until the end of time to keep women insecure so they can profit from our insecurity and shame.”

Another wrote: ‘All these TikTok trends about leggings legs… feels like we’re going back to the 90s magazines when they gave everyone eating disorders and I hate that.’

Others felt that the popularity of the trend was blown out of proportion.

“I’ve seen more videos on TikTok of people saying, ‘I can’t believe legging legs are trending, this is disgusting’ than I have actually seen videos about legging legs.”