Yahoo Lifestyle 
Mum flaunts stretch marks with post-baby lingerie shoot
A Texas mum is inspiring women to embrace their stretch marks by launching the empowering Instagram hashtag #TigerStripesOnATuesday.
Talmesha Jones, from San Antonio, regularly shares stunning pictures of her post-baby body but explains she hasn’t always had the confidence to do so.
After the birth of her now five-year-old son, Chase, the 27-year-old says she felt very self-conscious about her stretch marks.
Her self-esteem hit new lows after she received abuse online over how she looked, admitting that she would refuse to even look at herself in the mirror.
“Being pregnant, it changed my body a lot," Talmesha told the Daily Mail.
"It resulted in me getting stretch marks, wrinkles and extra skin. The stretch marks are pretty much everywhere now.”
“It made me very self-conscious. I didn’t like to look at myself in the mirror. When I did, I would just cry and sob about it. I would continuously suck my stomach in or like stretch my skin out.”
But now the part-time model is embracing her “tiger stripes” and wants others to do the same.
It started with a photographer friend who convinced her to take part in a photo shoot for the first time since giving birth. Despite her fears, Talmesha agreed, deciding enough was enough.
Today, the young mum’s hashtag helps challenge the stigma attached to stretch marks by asking women to unveil their postpartum bodies with pride and purpose.
Support for #TigerStripesOnATuesday snowballed, and Talmesha - who says she's been left stunned at how the reaction to her hashtag - now shares a story every week about a different woman and how they got their tiger stripes.
“I’m trying to teach people that it’s more than just a mark. I’m trying to teach people that it’s absolutely beautiful,” she told the publication.
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