Thankfully, in recent times celebrities and society itself are deciding to redefine beauty standards. From sharing makeup-free selfies to openly praising stretch marks and other flaws that are by all means “normal”. These moments of realness aren’t only refreshing, they’re also changing the way we see ourselves.
Jessica Simpson was unafraid to show the world her leg hair (as was Rihanna!) and her swollen pregnancy feet and ankles. Kendall Jenner didn’t conceal her acne, while her sister Kim Kardashian continues to be transparent about her struggles with psoriasis. And Amy Schumer shared even the most difficult moments of her pregnancy.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the times our favourite A-listers have embraced realness on social media: stretch marks, to be exact.
Ashley Graham
Ashley Graham is no stranger to sharing the realities of pregnancy—from the gruelling process to having to wear a diaper post-baby. Now, she’s embracing the new stretch marks, or in her words “new stories”, that come with it. “Same me. few new stories.” she captioned a raw image to her 10 million followers. Graham continues to post unedited images of her body, proving that stretch marks are beautiful and tell a story.
Jameela Jamil
Jameela Jamil has become known for embracing body positivity and transparency – often calling out celebrities and influences for promoting harmful products like diet teas. She’s also unafraid to post her own personal struggles, including that of stretch marks.
“Boob stretch marks are a normal, beautiful thing. I have stretch marks all over my body and I hereby rename them all Babe Marks. They are a sign my body dared to take up extra space in a society that demands our eternal thinness,” she wrote on Instagram. “They are my badge of honour for resisting society’s weaponizing of the female form. ❤️ ps. My face is white because I wear spf 100 sunscreen like a boss. 🤓 PS. LOVE YOUR BROWN SKIN. I tan responsibly but I love to tan! I love to embrace and celebrate my heritage. This skin bleaching and whitening should be banned. It’s inherently racist, classist and emotionally very damaging. #brownandproud”
Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen once posted a viral photo prominently displaying some stretch marks (plus thigh bruises she got while working in the kitchen). “Stretchies say hi!” reads her caption.
Kayla Itsines
Even the world’s most popular and successful fitness star isn’t immune to stretch marks. “This one is for the ladies asking me if I have stretch marks anywhere, yes I sure do 😍😘….. and if any of my friends or family are on here you know how much I love them!! I am a woman, and I am proud to be one and have these marks,’ the 27-year-old wrote.
Robyn Lawley
Aussie supermodel Robyn Lawley is a proud advocate for body positivity – and is no stranger to sharing her beautiful flaws. In an Instagram snap, she shows off her stretch marks with the caption, “#tigerstripes #loveyourbodynow”.
Kourtney Kardashian
Even the Kardashian’s aren’t afraid to give their tiger stripes some love. Kourtney shared an unedited photo of her stretch marks to her business account, Poosh. She even responded to a commenter, writing: “I love my little stripes.”
Hilary Duff
After being photographed by the paparazzi while vacationing with her son in 2017, Duff penned a lengthy Instagram post celebrating her body.
“I am posting this on behalf of young girls, women, and mothers of all ages,” Duff began. “I’m enjoying a vacation with my son after a long season of shooting and being away from him for weeks at a time over those months. Since websites and magazines love to share ‘celeb flaws’ – well I have them! My body has given me the greatest gift of my life: Luca, 5 years ago. I’m turning 30 in September and my body is healthy and gets me where I need to go. Ladies, lets be proud of what we’ve got and stop wasting precious time in the day wishing we were different, better, and unflawed.”
Demi Lovato
Last year, the American singer gained praise after overcoming her fears of posting a completely unedited bikini photo. “This is my biggest fear. A photo of me in a bikini unedited. And guess what, it’s CELLULITE!!!!” she wrote at the time. “I’m just literally sooooo tired of being ashamed of my body, editing it (yes the other bikini pics were edited – and I hate that I did that but it’s the truth) so that others think I’m THEIR idea of what beautiful is, but it’s just not me. This is what I got.”
Say it again, Demi.
Kelly Rowland
The former Destiny’s Child member made some waves after posting a photograph of herself at the beach sporting her stretch marks. In the post, Rowland chose to reference Kendrick Lamar’s hit-song “Humble”, saying: “B!T@H BE HUMBLE” and tagging the rapper himself. In the song, Lamar references to photoshop re-touching, with the lyrics reading, “I’m so sick and tired of the Photoshop… Show me somethin’ natural like a** with some stretch marks”.
The model and Euphoria star shared a snap of her stretch marks to her 2.4 million Instagram followers, captioning it: “Mi lil stripes are out here, soothing them with vitamin e oil n noticing how cute my body can be despite lil changes !!!”
Iskra Lawrence
