- So I tried on the green bodysuit.
And I'm not even gonna lie, I feel kind of uncomfortable.
I guess I have no choice but to go out there
and see how these pictures turn out.
(soft music)
- I do have stretch marks and I don't
think it's a bad thing.
- I think stretch marks are completely normal.
The majority of people have them.
- Can't remember the first time I noticed them.
Probably in high school.
- Mom herself would constantly talk about
her stretch marks on her stomach.
She would talk about how she wanted to laser remove them
or whatever because the media had put it
into her head that they were just not how
your stomach should look.
- There's definitely a stigma about stretch marks
not being pretty.
Even in magazines, people Photoshop
their stretch marks out, which I think is
kind of unhealthy.
- Being in high school, having to change
in the locker rooms, I would hear
girls just kind of snicker, say, what are those marks?
Or, why does she have those?
- And because it's vilified in the media,
you just look at it as something that's damaged
and it's not perfect anymore.
- Definitely hope that this makes me
a little more proud of my own skin.
- Time to show these tiger stripes to the world.
- I guess I have to put this on now.
- I'm changing, getting ready to do this photo shoot.
We're gonna do this topless.
- My stretch marks are stretchy.
(groans)
- I guess this will be fun.
If you look at it, it's really, really high up.
I don't know.
There's a lot of skin showing.
A lot.
- I feel really uncomfortable.
I don't want to take this sweatshirt off my waist.
- So we'll be taking my picture now, topless.
Which is a little nerve wracking.
Which will be different from the other girls
because I think I'm the only one
who won't be wearing anything.
(upbeat music)
- If more people start showing off their stretch marks,
their flaws, then it's something society can normalize.
- I hope to gain more self confidence at the end of this.
I hope I look at that picture and I think,
wow, you actually look fine.
- I'm definitely excited to be doing this photo shoot to
hopefully help girls that were in my position,
to show them that they have nothing to be ashamed of.
- I was a little intimidated at first because
I never actually showed off my stretch marks.
- Wrapped up the photo shoot.
It was a lot more exposed than I thought.
It was very interesting to slip that far
outside of my comfort zone and I'm very happy that I did.
- I'm excited to see the pictures.
Hopefully I'll learn to appreciate them a little bit more.
(soft music)
I was kind of uncomfortable during the photo shoot
because the focus is kind of on the stretch marks
that I have, so I was like, wow.
This is even more embarrassing.
- I don't usually wear stuff like that.
And most of my stretch marks don't show.
And now it's all gonna show.
- During the photo shoot, I did feel a little awkward
while being topless around people
that I didn't know.
But then, it felt pretty comfortable.
- Oh dang.
We should have more photos like this in actual media.
In magazines and articles.
- Oh wow.
That is really, that came out really nice.
It definitely is a very, I don't know, moving photo.
It's a little emotional.
- Oh wow.
This is actually kind of cool to see.
We're all perfectly flawed.
There's really nothing wrong with this.
And we shouldn't be so critical of ourselves
because those things kind of make us who we are,
as cliche as that sounds.
- The top part of the photo is super modelesque,
super photo shoot, and the bottom half
is like I'm a real person.
- Just go out there and embrace yourself
because it's hard, it is, but everyone else
has the exact same underlying problems.
- I've never really been depicted as
the standard beauty or anything like that.
So to see this photo, it's, I don't know,
it makes me feel pretty badass.
(soft music)