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Forget the 'thigh gap': #ThighReading celebrates healthy legs

Trending hashtag #ThighReading reminds women that their natural legs tell a story ... stretch marks, scars, cellulite and all.
/ Source: TODAY

Move over, #ThighGap. Body-positivity hashtag #ThighReading is taking Twitter by storm by spreading an uplifting message: your thighs tell your story, imperfections and all.

The hashtag was created earlier this month by user @princess_labia, who asked that her real name not be used.

"My thighs are something I’ve been insecure about my entire life," she told TODAY. "We don’t ever really see thighs that aren’t retouched and that are of average size."

She originally tweeted a picture of her thighs after realizing that "they could tell a story, the way my palms could tell a story."

@princess_labia also started the hashtag #SelfieArmy last August and tweets regularly about body image. So she was surprised to see this particular tweet receive so much attention, she told TODAY.

"I didn’t think posting a picture of my stretch marks was going to be something people responded to more than usual," she explained. "In my corner of Twitter at least, this is not new."

However, she said she's proud to have formed a space "for us to reclaim our bodies ... and celebrate ourselves in a way we haven’t been taught to."

She was shocked to learn that many women thought they were the only ones with stretch marks because "it’s so normal, it’s so common."

"The fact that mainstream media has created a world in which we feel alone with these things is truly remarkable," @princess_labia said.

Although she hadn't seen Chrissy Teigen's Instagram of her stretch marks until a recent article connected it to #ThighReading, @princess_labia said she's glad to see the supermodel share such a relatable image.

"It’s really amazing that women in the spotlight are being vocal about issues that actually affect a lot of girls and women," she told TODAY.

"Bruises from bumping kitchen drawer handles for a week. Stretchies say hi!" Teigen wrote in April.

For her part, @princess_labia hopes the #ThighReading hashtag will help combat the body-shaming that so many young girls face.

"Anything that people can make fun of you for, they will. And with girls, it’s so easy… because we’re told that our looks are the most important thing," she explained.

Asked about her advice for young women, @princess_labia said she would "tell [them] not to be so hard on themselves … and that there are communities out there that celebrate exactly what they have and exactly what they are."

#ThighReading's creator also said that she uses Twitter to spread her message because of the sense of community among her followers and users in general.

Twitter has "a way of showing you that every single person’s voice matters, and that you can make a difference in another person’s life," she told TODAY. "Maybe you’re going to affect someone who really needed to hear what you just said, who you never would have met in real life."

Of course, the real question is: After encouraging so many women to love their thighs, does @princess_labia feel better about her own?

"I don’t think it’s made me appreciate my own thighs more," she admitted, "but it’s definitely made me appreciate the power of sharing something you’re insecure about."