This Instagram Account Shows All Legs Are Awesome

Have you ever thought about how cool, and strong, and beautiful legs are? I think it's insanely awesome that our whole bodies are held up by these two limbs, and Stacey Baker's #CitiLegs Instagram agrees. Baker, an associate photo editor at New York Magazine, has been uploading photos of women from the waist down since March 2015 with the hashtag #CitiLegs to celebrate the diversity and beauty of women's legs and the clothing they adorn them with — and it's kind of the best thing ever.

The photographs are all set against similar, grayish backgrounds to highlight the uniqueness of each pair of legs; the accompanying captions also follow a similarly minimalist format, usually just naming the cross-streets where the image was shot.

The campaign is an incredibly body positive one, and it's a really cool way to think about issues of the camera's gaze. At first, a photo series of just women's legs sounds like it should be a sort of objectifying concept; no one wants to be reduced to his or her body parts. But the beauty of Baker's work is that she celebrates the female body without sexualizing it. There is nothing voyeuristic or creepy about her pictures. Each pair of legs seems to say, "I am strong and beautiful, and so is the woman next to me."

For so many women, including myself, legs are a point of major stress and insecurity. Think about how many ways we have to insult this one feature: We worry that our legs are too short, too long, too fat, too skinny, stretch-marked, covered in cellulite or varicose veins, too bony, scarred, burned, jiggly, and on, and on, and on.

When it comes down to it, Baker's CitiLegs website and Instagram seem to send one message very clearly: all legs are awesome. Whether you wear shorts, leggings, pants, skirts, flip flops, boots, or heels, your legs are strong and powerful.

Images: Stace_a_Lace/ Instagram (6)