Ashley Graham Is Proof That Stretch Marks Are Sexy

Nine months after giving birth, Ashley Graham shows off her curves (and stretch marks) in a new nude mirror selfie

All hail social media’s body-positive kween mama Ashley Graham, who is once again reminding us how beautiful it is to embrace your curves. On Sunday, the 32-year-old model took to Instagram to share a new nude mirror selfie — the latest in a line of untouched photos proudly showing off her stretch marks. Her badass caption? “Nakie big girl.”

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As you might expect, Graham’s famous friends and a ton of fans poured love into the post’s comment section. Some fans did suggest that the societal body standards which deem Graham as “big” are ridiculous. Being the oh-so-wise goddess that she is, though, Graham had an excellent bit of perspective to share regarding her use of the term.

One fan, @courtneymarieconnors, commented, “Nakie *normal* girl.” Another, @gratefulmama86, wrote. “I hate that this is seen as ‘big girl.’ I see nothing but a beautiful, naturally curvy woman in all her glory…. Super sexy and womanly.” To which Graham responded, “I hear what you’re saying. But if you look at ‘big’ as a positive or love then you can see it like I do. I love my big strong beautiful body. Love you girlie.”

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Graham and husband Justin Ervin welcomed their first child, son Isaac, in January — meaning they hit the 9-month-postpartum milestone this month. In tribute, the proud mom shared a nearly nude photo taken shortly after her son’s birth. In the snapshot, she is lying on her side with her newborn at her breast. “Can’t believe Isaac is 9 months today! 9 months in, 9 months out,” she gushed.

In the nine months since her son’s birth, Graham has made it her mission to celebrate her curves and normalize (totally normal!) postpartum bodies.

In July, the model mama posed for a Swimsuits For All campaign, opting not to have her body or stretch marks edited in post-production. “There’s always a question of what do you want us to retouch, and what do you want us to take out? And I said, ‘Nothing,’ except from a clamp holding up the DIY backdrop,” she told People of the photos, which were taken by Ervin. “I want everybody to know genuinely… I want people to see who I am because everybody has a story.”

For Graham, sharing her unretouched body is just as much about holding space for other women to feel confident in their skin as it is about her the confidence it gives her. She explained, “A lot of women I speak to have image issues, body issues around confidence. I want them to understand that we all have things that society has told us to cover up and why do we need to do that? So here I am with mine out and about and proud.”