Amy Pence-Brown just stood up to body shaming by stripping down in public.
On August 29, the feminist writer and fat activist stood in the middle of a busy market in Boise, Idaho in nothing but a black bikini and a blindfold over her eyes. At her feet she put a sign that read: “I’m standing for anyone who has struggled with a self-esteem issue like me, because all bodies are valuable. To support self-acceptance, draw a <3 on my body.”
The results of Pence-Brown's brave social experiment are undeniably powerful.
People of all ages, genders and ethnicities stopped to draw a heart on Pence-Brown's body. Some thanked her, others told her she was brave and one woman even started crying, Pence-Brown wrote on her blog.
Pence-Brown was inspired after seeing a similar social experiment published a few weeks ago by The Liberators International. A young woman stood in a crowded intersection in London, wearing nothing but her underwear to also promote body love.
In a recent blog post, Pence-Brown explained that she while she was excited, she was terrified at the thought of being so vulnerable. "I was scared that I might get asked to leave by the police or that people would yell terrible things at me," she wrote. "Or that no one would draw a heart on my body and I'd stand there alone and crying for minutes that felt like hours."
Thankfully, the social experiment was the exact opposite. As soon as Pence-Brown stripped down to her bathing suit people came rushing over to read her sign and draw a heart on her body.
After her hour-long social experiment, so many people had drawn hearts on Pence-Brown's body that they began drawing on her face. People wrote words of encouragement including "You are beautiful," "Divine" and "I love me."
Pence-Brown wrote that one young man told her: "The power of this moment will go on and in ways you never thought possible. You are changing more lives than you know.
"All these people that are stopping to look at you and read your sign and watch the rest of us? You've reached them all in ways unimaginable," another woman told Pence-Brown.
“In a society that profits from self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act," the end of the video reads.
We couldn't agree more.
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