Robyn Lawley Responds To Online Bullies

The image of Robyn Lawley that appeared on a “Box Gap Appreciation” Facebook group that prompted her to speak up.

“The obsession with women having a thigh-gap is a tool of manipulation that people use to keep me from loving my body,” says plus-size model Robyn Lawley in a scathing article on The Daily Beast speaking out against online bullies.

The thigh-gap (sometimes called a ‘box-gap’) refers to a body shape in which women’s legs do not touch. If you have watched Ja’mie: Private School Girl recently you will know that having a “box gap” is “quiche”. Its a hilarious commentary on schoolgirls but also a concerning insight into the hearts and minds of teens.

Lawley’s article comes after the 24-year-old Australian supermodel became angered and hurt about an image of her that appeared on a pro-thigh-gap Facebook page that sparked hundreds of negative comments. “The page displayed an un-retouched photo of me in lingerie. From the photograph, there appeared to be a gap between my thighs.”

Says Lawley, “The word ‘PIG’ was often used to describe my appearance and my thigh-gap was said to be not big enough…In the end I couldn’t keep silent, and after 900 or so comments about my body, I decided to chime in.”

She thanked those that supported and commented her, and let those who made derogatory comments know exactly what she thought. “You sit behind a computer screen objectifying my body, judging it and insulting it, without even knowing it.” Fortunately for me, thousands of people respect my body, which means I get to travel the world advancing the ideal that healthy is beautiful and true acceptance comes from within, not from comments on a Facebook page.”

Lawley is an inspiration and role model to young women all over the world, and someone who will not keep silent in the face of an insidious online disease that is plaguing our communities, “I want to run faster and swim longer. I suppose we all want different things but women have enough pressure as it is without the added burden of achieving a “thigh-gap”. The last thing I would want for my future daughter would be to starve herself because she thought a “thigh-gap” was necessary to be deemed attractive.

What do you all think?

And maybe help break down some of the blurred lines between the problems of being healthy and just looking skinny.