How My Body’s Quiet Transformation Carried Me Into Myself

Bare Model Feature

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The First Time I Noticed My Body

I didn’t think much about my body growing up. In middle school I could eat anything without gaining weight, and nothing felt complicated. That changed in eighth grade. A family trip to Mexico shifted everything. I gained around fifteen pounds almost overnight and those pounds settled on my hips and thighs. With them came stretch marks and cellulite and a new awareness of my body that I hadn’t felt before.

Curvy white woman’s butt with cellulite and stretch marks, natural body, no makeup. — *Photographed by Karlo Gomez*

I still remember asking my mom when they would disappear. She told me they wouldn’t. I didn’t understand then that these marks were not temporary or wrong. They were just part of becoming a woman. They were proof that my body was changing and carrying me into a new version of myself, even if I didn’t know how to feel about it yet.

Young White woman standing, curvy body, all natural, no makeup, body confident. — *Photographed by Karlo Gomez*

Seeing Other Women Like Me

As I got older I began noticing how many women’s bodies looked like mine. I saw the same texture on my friends. The same faint lines on women I admired. The same softness and very real skin that I once thought belonged only to me. Those marks weren’t flaws. They were history. They meant growth. They were stories written into the body.

Young White woman standing, blue eyes, curvy body with cellulite and stretch marks, all natural, no makeup. — *Photographed by Karlo Gomez*

Learning to Be Seen

During the pandemic I tried a FaceTime photoshoot just for fun. It was simple and imperfect, but it felt honest. Later, after moving to Los Angeles, I walked into a real shoot and let myself be seen without shrinking or tightening or posing away my softness.

Photography helped me look at myself differently. Seeing my stretch marks and cellulite through the camera made me realize they were not things to fix. They were part of me. Being photographed as a Bare Model gave me a place to stand in my own skin without apology. It let me say, This is me. This is my body. This is what it remembers.

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Young white woman with blue eyes in underwear and sweater, natural curves and cellulite, no makeup, body positive. — *Photographed by Karlo Gomez*

What My Body Holds

Society still tells women to smooth everything out. We are taught to erase the evidence that time passes through us. But these marks don’t need permission to exist. They are not something to correct. They hold memory. They carry weight and movement and the years that shaped me.

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is to speak to myself with the same kindness I offer to others. I used to stare at every tiny detail. A line here. A dimple there. But most people don’t see us that way. They see laughter. The way we move. The energy we bring into a room. The marks become part of the story, not the headline.

Curvy young white woman with hips and stretch marks, natural body, no makeup. — *Photographed by Karlo Gomez*

Still Growing

My relationship with my body is not finished. It changes, and I change with it. Confidence rises and fades and returns again. But these marks remind me of where I’ve been and who I am becoming. Women’s bodies are meant to shift. To grow. To carry memory. My skin is a record of living.

Find Bare Model Gibson on Instagram at @itsgibsonross