We're used to Instagram influencers like Lexi Mendiola uploading carefully curated shots making their lives -- and bodies -- seem nothing less than perfect, so it was refreshing to see the young social media star post a stretch mark-baring swimsuit shot. "It's taken me quite a while (23 yrs to be exact) but putting this out there to remind myself and everyone that it's really nothing to get all worked up or feel weird about," she said. "Here's to learning to love the lines." Excuse us while we hit "like."
Don't believe stretch marks can be beautiful? Spanish artist Cinta Tort Carto literally turns them into works of art, decorating the grooves with a rainbow-array of shades that serve to celebrate rather than hide the female body. She also applauds periods, body hair and vaginas via art on Insta, in case you're feeling self-conscious about any of those things, too.
With all the fuss around post-baby body bounce-back, this woke mama reminds us that (newsflash!) women's bodies do indeed change after making a human, and that's OK. "I've earned my stripes and am embracing them more and more every day," this mom proudly captions a shot showing off her baby girl and tiger stripes. "We give up our bodies to create our children, our bodies change and gain perfect imperfections that we should be celebrating not shaming." We're guessing Wedlake's little one will grow up with a healthy self-esteem, thanks to her tiger mom's refreshing attitude.
But moms aren't waiting until the birth of their little bundles of joy to embrace their changing bodies. "I could be sad over this or i could just say: bring on the tiger stripes baby because behind them is my babygirl," wrote this mom-to-be, who baby bumped her stretch mark insecurities to the curb.
Don't you just love how underwear ads show off superthin, airbrushed bodies? Yeah, neither does this mom, who decided to appropriate the #MyCalvins campaign to share her version of a more realistic look at a woman in the designer skivvies. "We all have flaws and insecurities," she wrote on a now defunct blog post about overcoming her stretch mark insecurities. "Yet, we continue [to allow] the media to take what's ours and mold it into something that's unrealistic. Your body is yours. You have to live with it, so get used to it." We think we'll stick to Instas like DeRouen's over glossy billboards for now.
