Yesterday we reported on a fat-shaming video posted on YouTube by Nicole Arbour. She claimed the video was “satire” but no one else felt that way. It was pretty offensive. It was very difficult to watch the entire video – yes – it is THAT offensive.
Watching a skinny blond woman talk about overweight people using offensive language (every other word seemed to be f*ck, f*cker, or f*cking) and calling them very nasty names along the way is not helpful if you want to have a conversation about health.
Arbour makes it a point to say that she is concerned for these people, and that she genuinely thinks she is helping them by warning them of the ills of over-eating, eating the wrong things, and a whole slew of other reasons why she feels people are over weight. I wanted to scream at her “You’re doing it wrong!”
Today I found a different video online that carries the opposite message as Arbour’s nasty, hate-filled video.
Amy Pence-Brown conducted a personal social experiment in a busy outdoor marketplace in Boise, Idaho on August 29, 2015. She stripped down to a bikini, and bravely stood, blindfolded, with her arms outstretched, holding magic markers. A simple, hand-written chalkboard sign at her feet said,
“I’m standing for anyone who has struggled with self-esteem issues like me, because all bodies are valuable. To support self-acceptance, draw a ‘[heart]’ on my body.”
Pence-Brown turned her body into a human marker board.
The results were astonishing. In the video below, a variety of people hesitantly approach Pence-Brown, take up a marker and put pen to flesh. In the end, there is barely an inch of unclaimed space. Some people drew hearts, some wrote short messages, and one gentleman even gave a hearty hug.
After nearly an hour, Pence-Brown removed her blindfold to peruse the responses left by the unseen passers-by. Pence-Brown had entered into this experiment expecting the worst. She did not expect the results she got. The two-minute video is a summary of her experience.
In a society that profits from your self-doubt, liking yourself is a rebellious act.
Because all bodies are valuable.
