Mom Pens Powerful Plea to Put an End to Body Shaming

— -- A Kentucky mom is inspiring women in the blogosphere after posting a plea for others to put an end to body shaming once and for all.

"I said, 'You know what, I'm happy, I'm healthy, but being too skinny is not OK with people,'" Ashley Glass, of Louisville, Kentucky, told ABC News today. "Being curvy is not OK with people. Being overweight is not OK with people. So I feel like as women, we can't win."

Glass, 27, said she was partially inspired to write her blog post titled "Thunder Thighs or Skinny Mini: The Truths Behind Body Shaming" after she had been diagnosed with postpartum thyroiditis following the birth of her now 3-year-old son, Pierson.

Glass, a mom of two, said the uncommon condition affects the thyroid gland and that it caused her to experience rapid weight loss.

"He [Pierson] was eight weeks old and I was losing more and more weight," she said. "I got down to 97 pounds and I didn’t like I how I looked. Other people didn't like how I looked."

Glass said she went through the postpartum thyroiditis again, following the birth of her daughter, Reese.

And still, she added, negative comments continued.

"[I'd hear] 'Look at those chicken legs. You don’t have a butt. You don’t have any hips,'" Glass said. "I think for me, personally, this is going to be something that I struggle with for a long time. I said in the article that I'm still learning to love the new me."

On Jan. 17, Glass took to her blog, giving a glimpse into her own struggles with body image, along with photos exposing her post-baby belly.

"If a woman is too heavy she is called 'fat,' and if you're in between, maybe you've been called, 'average' and if you're skinny, people tell you 'eat a sandwich,'" she wrote on her blog. "No matter what size you are, how your skin looks or doesn't look, isn't this you? And shouldn't we put our arms around the women in our lives and tell them that they are freaking rock stars, child bearing or not?"

"If you are wondering if a skinny girl appearance on the outside has helped me sleep better at night, that's a no," Glass added. "But my so-called 'flat' hips have still served my children well. They have bounced them during long nights; they have been home to their tiny legs wrapped around me. When there's a 'hold you' or 'up, up, up' request, my 'skinny' arms don't complain. I have a hard time seeing myself without a shirt, I have to tuck in my pooch when I sit down and while I am blessed to be Mom, there is freedom in admitting that I am learning to love her. I don't strive for perfection; I could care less about a number. I want to be healthy and happy."

Glass' post was shared on several platforms since she posted it online, resulting in an increased following on Instagram.

"I don’t care about followers, or how many 'likes' a picture gets, but I couldn’t believe how much positive responses it's gotten," Glass said of her newfound popularity. "My daughter, I just want her to know that it's not all about body image. I want her to be brave and courageous."