Many women struggle to maintain a positive body image, and blogger Brenda DeRouen is no exception.
“As some of you may or may not know, I’ve been on a journey to fully love myself,” she wrote in a recent post. “I’ve hid [sic] many of my insecurities by putting on a ‘strong woman’ front and acting as if nothing ever bothered me. But that’s not really who I am. And in all actuality, A LOT of things bother me. One of those things happened to be the stretch-marks on my stomach.”
To tackle this hangup head-on, DeRouen recreated the Calvin Klein ads in which Kendall Jenner appears—but in a way that flaunts her stretch marks, saying, “here’s a different kind of provocative for your feed”:
“It wasn’t until recently, eight years after giving birth to my son, that I learned to understand and accept my body for what it is,” wrote DeRouen. “I have stretch marks, so what! I’m no longer ashamed. My body has accomplished so much: the immense beauty of motherhood; the pleasures of maturity; and the undeniable journey of growth. There is no one, not even myself, that can ever make me feel badly about my skin.”
DeRouen encourages all women to embrace and love their bodies: “You are beautiful,” she wrote. “Every scar and every imperfection, has a story that makes you uniquely you. Your body is your temple. Embrace it and show it the love and attention that it needs. Never let anyone make you feel like your body is not worthy of appreciation.”
Read DeRouen’s full post on ohbrenda.com.
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