#ThighReading: The Body Confidence Hashtag That Shows What Women's Legs Really Look Like

#ThighReading Shows What Women's Legs Really Look Like
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Another day, another social media hashtag inspiring body confidence across the world. This time the focus is on our thighs.

#ThighReading is encouraging women to share pictures of their bare thighs online.

A play on palm reading, or palmistry, the hashtag encourages women to embrace the lines on their legs, whether they are stretch marks, cellulite or scars. After all, they tell the story of your life - and that's a good thing.

The trend was started by Twitter user @princess_labia on 20 July, who tweeted a photo of her stretch mark scars.

"I was sitting on my couch (I lounge around naked a lot) looking at my thighs and feeling the grooves of my stretch marks, and the thought that they looked like lifelines, like a palm reading, just came to me," she told Elite Daily.

"I tweet about my body ‘imperfections’ pretty frequently, so I didn’t think this was going to be something my followers responded to differently than most other things.

"But girls started sending back pictures of their thigh readings, and then it just went on from there."

Now, the trend has well and truly taken off, with many following in her body confident footsteps by sharing pictures of their stretch marks. After all, according to a recent survey, one third of Brits are unhappy with their body image.

The result is a beautiful online tapestry of what women's thighs really look like, which is far from the airbrushed perfection we're served on a daily basis.

Many users have said that the trend has given them a platform to share intimate photos of a body part they would normally hide away.

Others are using the trend to share their proud personal stories about triumphing over illness, such as cancer.

Some users are embracing the hashtag as a way to share photos of self-harm scars, but HuffPost UK Lifestyle have decided not to share these images, in case they are triggering to some readers.

Users who are using the hashtag in this way appear to be doing one of two things, either to bravely share a secret with the outside world or to try to help others find the strength to resist self-harm or to encourage them to seek help.

"I'm tired of hiding something that is a part of who I am now. Why you ask? Pain. Lots of it," writes one user.

Another writes: "This picture speaks for itself... not posting this for me, I'm posting it so others can be confident."