Stretch Happens (on being kind to yourself because isn’t a “failure”)
Panel 1
(Two young versions of Alli stand next to one another. The one on the left is wearing overalls and has no obvious hips; the one on the right has obvious hips and is wearing basketball shorts.)
Text: When I was a kid, puberty hit me like a hammer – with all the pain and surprise that implies. One week I was happily wearing my Winnie the Pooh overalls, the next I had to wear my gym shorts because nothing else fit over my hips. I’d had a growth spurt, but instead of growing up, I grew out.
Panel 2
(Alli holding her shirt up above her waist, dismayed by the appearance of stretch marks.)
Text: And where I had smooth, even skin before, I now had streaks of red and white going from my mid-thigh up to my ribs.
Panel 3
(Alli lying on her side, getting a tattoo on her hip. The artist is holding a tattoo gun and speaking.)
Text: Later, as a self-conscious young adult, I got a tattoo over my hip and the artist commented on my stretch marks, cementing my belief that they were a problem.
Artist: Wow, you’re really streaky here. I don’t even know if the ink will take.
Panel 4
(Alli in a sports bra and shorts with arrows pointing out marks on her breasts, arms, hips, thighs, butt, and calves.)
Text: As my weight changed over the years the stretch marks just kept popping up on my arms, calves, thighs, chest, butt – everywhere.
Panel 5
(An image of a traditionally beautiful cis woman with a C-section scar and stretch marks visible only on her abdomen. She is wearing a bikini and smiling with a “come hither” expression.)
Text: I’ve seen some stretch mark positivity over the years, but it’s always focused on pride in sexiness and motherhood – lots of “Rawr, you earned those stripes! You’re a sexy tiger! Rock it, Momma!” type narratives.
Panel 6
(A woman holding a baby and smiling with a green check mark underneath her, standing next to a man with visible stretch marks on his arms with a red X underneath him.)
Text: That sort of praise feels more like policing. It says “Stretch marks are okay only if you are a conventionally attractive cis woman who has reproduced.” It suggests you have to “earn” your stripes.
Panel 7
(Three people shown from the knees up. Each of the three people has a different body shape and an image of themselves as a baby at their knees.)
Text: We all started life as little proto-humans who grew up into all sorts of differently shaped humans, and that’s all you have to do to end up with stretch marks: grow. People of all shapes and sizes have them. They shouldn’t be a big deal.
Panel 8
(A muscular person, a short person with a medium build, a fat person, and a thin person in a wheelchair are lined up next to one another, smiling.)
Text: Almost everyone gets stretch marks: big people, small people, fat people, thin people, people of all ages, colors, and genders. Stretch marks just happen; they’re not evidence of failure or a lack of effort – only stretched skin.
Panel 9
(Alli lifting up her shirt and stroking the stretch marks on her hip)
Text: I like my stretch marks – they’re velvety soft, multicolored, and warm; they’re my skin. They aren’t good or bad, just a part of me that shows I’m different than I used to be.
