Women Highlight Stretch Marks For Body Positivity

Sara Shakeel (@sarashakeel) shared this.Glitter Stretch Marks Are the Latest Trend in Body Positivity.Oct 27, 2017 at 8:46am PDT/time>

Sara ShakeelSara Shakeel practically broke the internet. Her #glitterstretchmarks collage art went live in late October 2017. A friend asked her to photoshop her stretch marks out of an image, inspiring the artist to make the series.

"That made me sad because I too have a lot of them, including cellulite," Shakeel told.Huffington Post UK. "So with all that in mind, I made glitter and space stretch marks." Shakeel covers stretch marks in glitter—everyone loves glitter—to show the beauty of stretch marks and "fill them up with something pretty."

Cinta Tort Cartró �� (@zinteta) shared this.onJul 11, 2017 at 11:30am PDT/time>

A littlebackground on stretch marks: almost all women have some. Stretch marks result from the dermis tearing. This happens when skin stretches, like during a growth spurt or weight gain, or when hormones shift, such as during puberty or pregnancy. Most stretch marks show on the thighs, stomach, breasts, and butt—but they can appear anywhere!

Cinta Tort Cartró �� (@zinteta) shared this.onAug 9, 2017 at 4:09am PDT/time>

A myth claims stretch marks only exist on fat bodies. That is false; this myth only adds body shame to women. Bodies ofall sshapes and sizes have stretch marks—from rail-thin to big and beautiful.

WOMEN ARE BADASSES (@ladygroove) shared this.onNov 12, 2017 at 6:32am PST/time>

In 2014, two mothers started the Instagram account @loveyourlines (which was deleted), along with the matching#loveyourlineshashtag, to "celebrate stretch marks." The account attracted mothers done feeling ashamed, wanting pride in their bodies instead. Over 20,000 women have posted photos of their stretch marks with stories about pregnancy and motherhood, showing the effort and love put into every mark.

chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) shared this.onApr 12, 2015 at 9:09pm PDT/time>

In April 2015, Chrissy Teigan - known for candid and sometimes controversial social media commentary - posted an innocent picture to Instagram: Her, sitting cross-legged, saying "Hi" to her stretch marks. Or, as Teigan calls them, "stretchies."

The image went viral fast. It created many "Models! They're Just Like Us!" articles. This gave women everywhere a chance to feel better. Stretch marks suddenly seemed normal. Maybe even sexy.

Cinta Tort Cartró shared a post on @zinteta.Painted stretch marks are trending.Aug 1, 2017 at 7:06am PDT/time>

Cinta Tart Cartró is a 21-year-old artist from Spain. She uses her art to protest patriarchal culture. What topic is she tackling now?Stretch marksCartró paints stretch marks in every color. She turns women's bodies into living art.

Cartró's fight to love her body inspired her latest work. She wants to show the world that "stretch marks are part of our essence, our moments, our lives, our stories and us. They are so beautiful that I do not know how sometimes they get us to hate them."

I am so impressed with@AsosAsos did not airbrush the models' stretch marks. She looks amazing!pic.twitter.com/OKEZinpjKe

Stretch marks are becoming mainstream whenmajor brandsBrands stop photoshopping product images and start embracingrealwomen's bodies in their marketing. ASOS, Victoria's Secret, Lane Bryant, and Missguided joined the body positivity movement. Seeing real bodies in magazines and on billboards, and seeing them as beautiful, makes a big difference for women's lives.

Jessica Alba shared a post ononNov 2, 2017 at 9:44am PDT/time>

The body positivity movement started because of unrealistic standards from media and Hollywood. Seeing celebrities who once set those standards stop beauty myths—that celebrities have "imperfections" and "flaws" too—feels refreshing.

To name some famous women who openly accepted theirstretch marks:

Jessica Alba says, “Even though some might consider them a flaw, I’ve learned to love my stretch marks. Pregnancy was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had. So I’ll take the stretch marks. I’ll take the cellulite I can never get rid of.”

Reese Witherspoon states, “I am covered in stretch marks and cellulite but it doesn’t bother me at all. My body will never be the same again but I really don’t care.”

Miranda Kerr says, “I totally gave my body over. I didn’t care if I got stretch marks, I didn’t care if I didn’t get back into shape. My main focus was to have a healthy child and it didn’t matter to me if I could model or not. I didn’t have any aims to get back in shape.”

Kelly Rowland shared a post ononMar 31, 2017 at 3:19pm PDT/time>

Kendrick Lamar's song "Humble" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year. Lamar insisted stretch marks are beautiful, which partly fueled the success.

"I’m so f*cking sick and tired of the Photoshop"
Show me something natural like afro on Richard Pryor.
Show me something natural like ass with some stretch marks.

The song inspired singerKelly Rowland.Kelly Rowland got comfortable with her stretch marks after the song. Soon after, Rowland posted a photo of her "ass with some stretch marks" captioned, "B!T@H BE HUMBLE."

Sara Shakeel shared a post.onNov 8, 2017 at 10:30am PST/time>

The term "body positivity" does not only apply to women. Artist Sara Shakeel stated on herInstagram pageMen messaged Shakeel to include their bodies in the #glitterstretchmark art series. Shakeer said, "I cannot explain how overwhelmed I was seeing about 300 emails of stretchmarks, cellulite, scars, and the best part is I am getting requests from men asking if I can put glitter on their marks too! Isn't that just fabulous!"

We await how men join the movement. True body positivity only happens whenallbodies should be represented.