Society teaches us that
stretch marks are unattractive—something to be hidden away and ashamed
of—and for women, this message is especially clear, as evidenced by the
lengths we'll go to keep them out of sight—from a romantic partner or
from onlookers at the beach.
Intent on shifting our perception of them from a negative to a
positive, Spanish artist Cintia Tort Cartró has created stunning body
art that show stretch marks for what they really are: beautiful.
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Cintia, who posts under the Instagram handle Zinteta, uses colors of the rainbow to highlight women's stretch marks, and the results are gorgeous and refreshing.
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Cintia, who posts under the Instagram handle Zinteta, uses colors of the rainbow to highlight women's stretch marks, and the results are gorgeous and refreshing.
In an illustration of
stretch marks, she writes as a caption: "Starting when we're very small,
they make us hate all that we have in our body and they constantly
attempt to make us get rid of everything that isn't normal to them: the
blemishes, the freckles, the body hair and an endless number of other
things, and stretch marks. Stretch marks are marks that many of us have
on our skin. I spent many years hating them and trying to find a way to
remove them, until I realized that if I didn't accept them, I wasn't
accepting myself. A few years ago, I began to work on self-esteem and
acceptance ... Accepting all of this is accepting your roots, your story
... and in the end, accepting yourself. Stretch marks are part of my
essence, my moments, my life, my history and myself ... Noticing them is
therapeutic. Accept yourself and love yourself (a lot)."
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But the Spanish artist doesn't just focus on stretch marks. Her body
positive, feminist art also uses tampons, body hair, menstrual cups,
menstruation and race as subjects, depicting them in rainbow colors, to
send the message that women should love, not hate, their bodies.
On what inspired her art, she tells POPSUGAR,
"I have not always felt comfortable with my period and stretch marks.
Overall, I have not always felt secure with my body. Over the years, and
after internal reflection, I saw that if I did not accept anything
[about] my body—hair, stretch marks—I could never love or accept me."
She tells POPSUGAR she considers her projects to be artivism, a
combination of art and activism for topics like feminism and
anti-racism, saying, "When I make my art it's for me, to show what's
affecting me on the inside. I like that I can reach other people and
they are reflecting. It's a precious process."
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We love the message
Cintia's work sends about appreciating our bodies. Whether you've gotten
stretch marks a.k.a. tiger stripes from pregnancy, puberty, weight
gain—whatevs—know that there's beauty in them, and beauty in women's
bodies just the way they are.
Cintia isn't the only one
who's transformed stretch marks into beautiful body art. Below are some
other images of body art done on stretch marks.
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