Celebrating Healthy Legs: The #ThighReading Trend

Has anyone heard about this awesome hashtag that’s sweeping Instagram and Twitter? #ThighReading aims to show how we all can embrace and love our thighs, even with all their imperfections. Created by the Twitter user @princess_labia, she was recently quoted by TODAY saying, “My thighs are something I’ve been insecure about my entire life. We don’t ever really see thighs that aren’t retouched and that are of average size.” She went on to explain that this all started when she tweeted a picture of her thighs and realized, “they could tell a story, the way my palms could tell a story.”

During her interview with TODAY, @princess_labia said, “I didn’t think posting a picture of my stretch marks was going to be something people responded to more than usual. In my corner of Twitter at least, this is not new.”

From stretch marks to scars, women have been sharing images of their thighs and telling their story on Instagram and Twitter – and it’s pretty inspiring. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:

Tweets:

#thighreading helps so much. I didn’t realize that so many other people have stretch marks wow now I feel like a normal human being

— sleazeburger (@mxurakate) July 21, 2015

I finally feel comfortable in my skin after 18 years. Wore a bikini in public and IM proud of my marks #ThighReading pic.twitter.com/q1z2rXStjK — erin (@MeAndLWT) August 3, 2015

I spent most of my life hating my thighs.Then I got cancer.These thighs mean I’m still alive & walking. #thighreading pic.twitter.com/YisgAkN4or

— Steffanie Flack (@luvmesumtwilite) August 3, 2015

Swim, bike, run. I like to feel strong. Thighs courtesy Grandpa. #ThighReading pic.twitter.com/u3hJqIFDel — Samantha Bonar (@samanthabonar) July 29, 2015

Instagram:

Even Chrissy Teigan weighed in with her #ThighReading

Twitter user princess_labia started the hashtag #ThighReading to encourage women to post photos of their thigh lines, scars, cellulite, or other physical “imperfections” to show that body marks are nothing to be ashamed of. “I wasn’t thinking I was creating a hashtag, ’cause I post pictures of my body and my body ’flaws,’” she said. “I was just sitting on the couch with my legs crisscrossed and I was just looking at my stretch marks and feeling them, because they’re kind of deep some places and yeah, I was just looking at it and I was like, ’Oh, it’s like a palm reading.’” Soon enough, droves of women began doing the same on social media. Many said they did not realize how common stretch marks are and were pleased to see they were not alone in having them. : @chrissyteigen shares a photo of her #ThighReading

A photo posted by ATTN: (@attndotcom) on Aug 4, 2015 at 5:54pm PDT

Scars, marks and ‘imperfections’ show strength, progress and truth. Be proud of every one of them! #thighreading

A photo posted by Chloe Giles (@choosefife) on Aug 4, 2015 at 6:50am PDT

Cada cicatriz significa algo, las estrías en mis muslos son consecuencia de una pérdida y aumento de peso constante, mi adherencia es una cirugía mal cuidada que parece lonja, bulto y sobre sale de mi abdomen, en mi pie cicatriz de otra cirugía por el fútbol, no pretendo ser perfecta, me gusta mi cuerpo y asi hablen mierda créanme soy muy feliz con todos mis defectos #Thighreading #amorpropio

A photo posted by mafer badillo (@maferbava) on Aug 2, 2015 at 8:42pm PDT

#thighreading ok but really, this is so important. So many girls, including myself, struggle with their self imagine. Media has made girls believe that they should be ashamed of themselves if they don’t look like the models that are plastered around our every day lives. We have been told that stretch marks and a little fat on our body’s is something to be ashamed of, this is not true. Stretch marks are there to remind us that we have grown into someone, and we are turning into something that matters. No matter how you got them, or how hard you try to lose them, they will always be a part of you. I have been trying to lose them for years, and throughout it I have lost weight and gained muscle, but my stretch marks will always be there. Embrace who YOU are, don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t beautiful because of little marks on your body.

A photo posted by Rachel Freesmeyer (@raycharles_24) on Aug 4, 2015 at 11:58am PDT

According to @princess_labia, she’s proud to have formed a space “for us to reclaim our bodies … and celebrate ourselves in a way we haven’t been taught to.” It’s a pretty incredible movement with an incredible message of self-confidence and self-acceptance behind it? Would you snap a photo of your thighs to share on social media?