There is a prototype of female bodies that is sold to us by society everyday. It is advertised on glossy pages in blush pink print and fed to us daily through commodities that are supposed to fit us into that ‘perfect’ shape. Drink green tea, use anti-aging cream, use wrinkle prevention cream, put makeup to hide your imperfections but don’t put too much makeup to look like a caked up doll.
And you know what we never see a female body have? Stretch marks.
23-year-old mum, Doreen Ching with quadruplets shared photos of the impact pregnancy did to her body. Coming to terms with the changes, she hoped this would empower more women, however she became the target of trolls who shamed her for her body.
Stretch marks aren’t usually the celebrated part of a pregnancy but they are an inevitable part of it. It’s natural and it is high time we stop shaming people for it.
This was the photo that Doreen from Malaysia shared and many people responded by calling her ‘ugly’ and ‘disgusting.’ Talking about that time in her life, Doreen said,
“I received a lot of mummies’ inquiries asking me how to eliminate the scars as you’re gonna be scared, and that’s the price, even if you have money. There’s no way to get rid of it, and it’s like, every day, every day, every day.”
At first she couldn’t accept her body and the changes it had gone through. She would look at her stomach filled with stretch marks and tears would spring to her eyes.
According to Bored Panda, talking about this phase, Doreen added, “Only 21 at the time, I wondered how I would be able to accept my stomach looking like this for the rest of my life. The first thing I did when I got out of the delivery room was to look at my stomach and my tears came out. I was cracked up to a very serious kind of rupture and skin tissue was damaged.”
However, the cyber trolls didn’t leave her. They incessantly called her names and said she was ‘ugly’ and ‘disgusting.’ Doreen said that listening to this would make her sick to the stomach. She said,
“Some men said it was all the woman’s fault for wanting to have so many kids. Do you have any respect for the women of the world? Your mother? Your wife? And a woman who can afford to have children?”
However this didn’t stop the young mother in doing whatever the hell she wanted. She wears bikinis and flaunts her marks and says, “I can only be as perfect as I can be.”
Well, that’s the attitude. (You go Glen Coco!)
An overwhelming amount of positive comments then flood her feed with people sending her support from all over the world.
1. Yass!
2. She is a kween!
3. Mothers are beautiful.
4. Absolutely.
5. Women standing up for women, I absolutely love it.
6. Inspiring everybody.
It’s obvious that this strong woman won’t let some internet trolls get the better of her. She’s spreading an important message on body positivity and one that must be heard. Kudos to Doreen for this, you’re doing it for women all over! ❤