Ashley Graham makes stretch marks sexy at the VMAs—and we are HERE FOR IT

No one is working harder to normalize normal, beautiful bodies than model and mama Ashley Graham—and last night was no exception. Rocking a killer dress on the MTV VMAs red carpet, Graham showed off her stretch marks in the sexiest, sleekest way.

The thing about stretch marks we don’t talk about enough is that…drumroll…MOST PEOPLE HAVE THEM. They are normal! And nothing to feel shame about! Bodies grow and change and our skin adapts to those changes, and sometimes that results in stretch marks whether someone’s body has housed a baby or not.

Related: Ashley Graham has a message for all mamas about her ‘bounce back’ 5 months postpartum

Ashley Graham’s body has housed three babies during the last three years, and her confidence is a lesson to us all: love the body you’ve got.

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She’s always been open about her feelings related to body image—both the ups and the downs. During her last pregnancy with twins Roman and Malachi, she shared that her husband, Justin, declared that her stretch marks look like “the tree of life.”

Is there a more beautiful metaphor than that? How could you possibly want to hide your tiger stripes after hearing that perspective?

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And here she is, after giving birth to twins earlier this year, showing the world that you can look and feel fabulous in your body without shame:

Last year, she opened up about how “bounce-back culture” affected her relationship with her body while pregnant with her first son, Isaac, and her postpartum experience.

“I learned that the hard way when I tried to control everything when I was pregnant with Isaac and I told myself that I was going to bounce right back because I was breastfeeding and everybody told me, ‘Oh, if you breastfeed you’re going to lose all the weight,'” Graham said at the time, and acknowledged that isn’t what happened for her. “It’s so hard acknowledging and accepting the loss of control of your body when you’re pregnant.

Related: Ashley Graham is delivering the body-positive clothing inspo we need in viral TikTok

Earlier this year, she gave birth to twins Malachi and Roman—which means she has three kids two and under. Who has time to worry about “bouncing back” anyway?

“This is my strong, five-month-postpartum-been-pregnant-for-two-years body. As it is. In hopes to further normalize ALL bodies in every and any stage of life,” she shared in a video earlier this summer

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Bouncing “back” (back to what, exactly, when who you were before no longer exists?) is for the birds, but Ashley Graham and—her inspiring message to mamas everywhere—is here to stay!