A mother was publicly humiliated and bullied for her stretch marks when she basked in a bikini at the Alberta beach in Canada, but she isn’t taking things head down.
Edmonton mom Tanis Jex-Blake, 33, decided to write an open letter about her experience and posted it on Facebook, which since then has garnered over four thousand likes and still counting.
The letter was addressed to the two guys and one girl who she overheard of saying they decided to miss house-construction work on that day at their Sherwood Park workplace.
Jex-Blake narrates that the people who mocked her went over instead to the beach for some relaxation. She recalls that these individuals pointed to her belly, laughed at her and even pretended kicking her.
“I'm sorry if my first attempt at sun tanning in a bikini in public in 13 years 'grossed you out.' I'm sorry that my stomach isn't flat and tight. I'm sorry that my belly is covered in stretch marks,” writes Jex-Blake who weighs 125 lbs.
She, however, says she isn’t sorry that her “body has housed, grown, protected, birthed and nurtured FIVE fabulous, healthy, intelligent and wonderful human beings.” Nevertheless, she challenges these individuals asking what great feat their faultless young bodies have done.
She also admits in the letter how she pretended their actions didn’t affect her, though she cried in her car as she headed home. She thanks them, too, for ruining her day, adding that it’s people like them who make the world “an ugly hateful place.”
She adds that she can’t help but still feel sorry for the ladies who will bear their children one day and likewise will look “gross” in their eyes, because their bodies will change as well during what she describes as “miraculous process of pregnancy.”
As per YWCA Edmonton CEO Jackie Foord, who guides young women regarding inner beauty, society has such high expectation that women have to look thin, with their makeup and hair to look right and now that stretch marks are a no-no.
“It’s an unbelievably unattainable standard,” Foord said.
Meanwhile, Jex-Blake hopes one day these individuals will realize that her battle scars are “to be proud of, not ashamed of.”
Gathered reports say Jex-Blake is looking at hosting a “post-baby bikini” session with fellow moms within her locality to inspire other mothers to have positive attitude on their bodies. Her story has already inspired many people and media outlets around Europe and U.S., including Hot 107 Edmonton radio station that posted it on their official fan page on Facebook gaining a million likes.
