It's estimated that 80 percent of women have stretch marks, so the likelihood is that if you're reading this, you have some streaks of purple or white somewhere on your body. Many women obtain their "stripes" from pregnancy, but in my case, it was one too many Friday night restaurants.
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Regardless of their origins, stretch marks can make a woman feel, well, flawed. Like over-stretched elastic or a sweater that came out of the dryer malformed, what was once smooth and untouched now has permanent ridges and lines. It's like that first walk through a blanket of snow. For some of us, there's a sense of loss when we realize our skin will never be the same.
That's why it's so great to see high-profile women getting real about their bodies, "flaws" and all. Australian model Robyn Lawley, who gave birth to a daughter last spring, posted a selfie that included her fresh stretch marks in response to false reports that she had considered aborting the baby to keep her skin flawless.
"It hurt so bad, the comments that ensued were derogatory to say the least," Lawley said in the post on her Facebook page. "I'm familiar with being bullied, once for not having a thigh gap (insert face palm) but to bully me for something I never said…"
Lawley said she felt it was important to capture her marks before they started to fade to white "Because they are some bad ass #tigerstripes. And I earned them."
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Isn't it refreshing to see models and other public figures rebelling against the Age of Airbrush? Even American Eagle has taken note and no longer photoshops their lingerie models. Some countries even require photoshopped images to be clearly labelled as such.
This is huge progress for women, and as I see my little girl becoming obsessed with my mascara and pumps, I'm encouraged to see women speaking up and showing us that even models rock stretch marks and cellulite. I hope by the time she's really beginning to understand her body that airbrushed models will be a thing of the past, and that stretch marks will not be something women feel the need to hide. We're a long way from that point, but we're taking steps in the right direction.
Photograph by: Robyn Lawley
