She stripped till her underwear and stood with arms outstretched in the busy Piccadilly Circus of London. Blindfolded, she held a marker pen in each hand, waiting for a busy London public to stop and take notice. Meet Jae West, the girl from Perth, Australia, who carried out this extraordinary stunt to stand up for something that we all suffer from: body image issues.
On a white board next to her, she had mentioned her motive – she simply wanted passersby to draw a heart on her body if they supported her message. And boy did she get responses! In her blog that she wrote after this incident, West says that while all throughout she did “feel an overwhelming sense of vulnerability”, she was also heartened and uplifted at people’s reactions.
West, in her blog, also wrote about how she herself had struggled with body image issues while growing up, and wanted to spread the message of self-love.
I was scared that no one was going to draw a love heart on my body and I was going to be left out there in the open in my underwear on show to be ridiculed.
– Jae West in her blog
Yet, as the minutes passed by, people started noticing her and approached her cautiously.
The feeling of the felt pen was on my skin was one of the most overwhelming feelings of relief, gratitude and love that I’ve ever felt. I just burst into tears. I don’t know who that first person was but I am so thankful for their contribution. After that first love heart was drawn it felt like others were liberated to follow suit because soon all the pens were leaving my hands at a rapid pace!
— Jae West in her blog
What’s remarkable is that even the UK police supported her cause; in fact as West stresses in her blog, two police officers were constantly around, simply concerned about her safety.
Watch the video below to understand her motivating story.
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