Do your stretch marks make you feel unworthy? That’s what the media wants. Unworthy women spend money on things they feel they’re lacking. Unworthy women pass insecurity down to their children.

I nearly destroyed my life in pursuit of the ‘bikini body.’ It was the most painful – and selfish – period of my life. I say “selfish,” because I wasn’t thinking of anyone else, unless it meant resenting them. This is why I am so, so grateful that I was not a mother. If there had children involved in my quest for perfection, they would have felt they weren’t enough, because that’s what I would have modeled for them.

I want to be a mom, someday. Motherhood means living for more than just myself. It requires making choices out of self-love and compassion for others. It requires honesty, acceptance, and the courage to embrace who I am, regardless of what big business says I’m “supposed” to be.

The best version of myself is not the woman on the cover of a magazine. That airbrushed image you see is not a role model, or a nurturer. The Playboy bunny character is not a mother…Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett is.

Behind every fashion spread is a human being who wants to love and be loved.

I am glad Kendra shared that photo, even if she took it down. It was enough to start an important conversation. I hope more of us talk about this. Because calling a woman “brave” for going airbrush-free, makeup-free, six-pack free… that’s just playing into the screwed up mindset that keeps us captive. It’s not brave to admit you’re human. It’s necessary. It’s important. It’s what the world needs.

I am a model. I want to be a good mother. And this means embracing my health, celebrating my flaws, and exposing falsehoods so that nobody else has to go through what I did. It’s one thing to suffer as a single woman; having a family magnifies this. Let’s own our truth as human beings, who happen to be female. We have the right to allow our bodies to function normally, and to be open about it. We can do this as mothers, as friends, and as consumers. Buy what you believe in. Share acceptance, not comparison. That’s what Kendra did, and you can too. The more we see real bodies in the media, the closer we’ll be to change. Your body, Kendra’s body…our bodies are beautiful, worthy, and more than brave.