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Video: Woman Asks Strangers In Union Square To Write On Her For Body Positivity
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 21, 2015
Modified Nov 21, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 21, 2015
Modified Nov 21, 2015
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Union Square is no stranger to any number of colorful characters and public performances, from a local Yoko Ono to Miley Cyrus cult members, from dudes with swagger to butt sniffers. One woman decided to join in the fun in a slightly more positive way this week by shedding her clothes and inviting strangers to draw hearts on her to promote body positivity.
The woman, a former Apple employee named Gini who goes by the YouTube handle Ginicanbreathe, described the concept:
I walked up to Union Square, blindfolded myself, pulled my dress over my head. All the while a man was shouting at me “Hey, Girl. Put your clothes back on. Put your clothes back on. Noone wants to see that.” I held my ground and adjusting my sign. It read: “I am standing for ANYONE who has struggled with a SELF-ESTEEM ISSUE like me… ALL bodies are BEAUTIFUL. To support SELF-ACCEPTANCE, draw a heart on my Body.” I stood for only a few seconds until I felt the first marker lifted from my hand. Then the second. And on an on it went, people coming up to me and drawing on my body. Each time someone came up to me, I felt the full impact of human connection cursing through my body. True and pure love, that we all felt in that moment, that we all feel the same way. We all experience doubt and fear. All I was trying to say was: “Hey, me too.”
Cursing or coursing aside, this isn't the first public body performance of its kind in recent months: Jae West from The Liberators International pulled it off last summer in Piccadilly Circus in London.
And then another woman, Amy-Pence Brown, did it in downtown Boise, Idaho a month after that.
Tagged
body positivity
union square
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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