STRETCH MARKS

You know what bothers me most about stretch marks? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s not their size. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s not their shape. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s the fact we mostly relate them to childbirth when there are millions of humans who have never birthed a child roaming with earth with stretch marks, too. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s the fact that many of us use stretch marks like a prize for child birth. “I birthed a child so I earned these tiger stripes!” When the reality is there’s a list of reasons stretch marks can appear. Puberty. Sudden weight loss from an illness. Weight gain from a medication. Genetics. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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It’s the fact if you simply google ‘stretch marks’ all the top results are about how to get rid of them – when the reality is there is no magical solution to getting rid of stretch marks. They’re just a normal part of a human body. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Don’t get me wrong – growing a human is magical. It’s hard work and the changes your body makes for it should be celebrated. I’m not saying we should be ashamed that we only received stretch marks from childbirth. I just think we need to represent all sides of it, too, so the non-child growing folks can feel the same pride. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Because both men and women get stretch marks. Because humans of all ages get stretch marks. Because humans of all sizes, races, and lifestyles get stretch marks.