Watch as a Woman Strips Down in a Farmers Market to Help Promote Body Acceptance
If you've ever looked at yourself in the mirror and didn't like what you saw, this video is for you. If you've ever obsessed over cellulite, dark circles, or arm jiggle, take four minutes out of your day to watch what this woman does in the name of self-love. This small act of activism may have the power to quiet down huge insecurities and fears.
To help promote self-love and body acceptance, Amy Pence-Brown stripped down to her bra and underwear in a busy farmers market in Boise, ID, with 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 Jae West of The Liberators International. After watching the video, Amy wondered whether or not a positive reception would also be given to herself, "How would it be received if the woman had been less socially acceptable in appearance, like, fat? And, say, a mom who's nearly 40 years old? And in a place that was more conservative and less progressive than London like, say, Boise, Idaho?," she wrote on her blog.
Amy got her answer. In the 50 minutes she stood in the center of the market, teens, children, men, women, and entire families stopped to offer her more than hand-drawn hearts. Many gave words of encouragement and hugs, others thanked her, and some left behind flowers. When the 50 minutes was up, Amy found things like "hope," "thank you," and "I love you, I love me," scrawled across her body.
". . . Like me, you will also see other things in these photos — the sweat running down my rolls of back fat, cellulite (on strong legs that have carried me for four decades), a wonky bikini top with sagging breasts (that nourished three babies), stretch marks (that represent my transition from a chubby adolescent to a curvy teenager to a woman who's been pregnant four times), and darkly tanned skin (from a summer spent at the Boise Public Pools with my friends and my children)," wrote Amy. "In a society that profits from self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act. All bodies are beautiful."