That dream where you’re naked in public? One woman lived it and it made her stronger.
So many of us face body image issues. We know that. So the question becomes what do we DO with these issues? What’s the best way to tell that little voice inside our head who is always giving us grief about our noses and thighs to just shut the ef up and go away forever? In an attempt to answer these questions, Kat Lazo, a vlogger and feminist media activist, got really creative and really brave.
On an average day in New York City, Lazo took off all her clothes and danced down the street in nothing but a two-piece nude-colored bikini, staging a one-woman parade in celebration of body positivity. She taped the whole thing and shared it with the Internet to send a message that’s more about empowerment than exhibitionism. The video, which actually came out in August, but went viral this past weekend, shows Lazo running down the street with her bikini blacked out, so she looks like she’s not wearing anything.
In the video, Lazo explains the method behind the madness:
“I decided to take to the street and bare it all in order to silence society’s pressure of beauty standards.”
Lazo is part of a growing trend of women baring it all and taking ownership of their bodies in order to challenge the stereotypes and stigmas attached to female nudity. We’ve recently seen women strip down for gender equality campaigns like Free the Nipple and on feminist blogs, like Herself.
For Lazo, the semi-nude run was a chance to defiantly break through some of her own body baggage born out of societal pressures to look “perfect.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever had a ‘problem’ with my weight,” Lazo shares on her blog. “But I can say that there hasn’t been a day where I’m not consciously fighting against the voices in my head from the pressures of society’s beauty standards. Its exhausting to constantly reject the lies that the media and sometimes even your own family feeds you.”
Lazo explains that after growing up being body-shamed, she finally hit her breaking point.
“It’s hard to ignore societal beauty standards but its even harder when their coming from inside your own home,” she writes. “There just came a moment when I wanted to scream ‘F— IT’. I wanted to silence all the voices in my head so I could hear my own voice.”
And that’s when Lazo struck upon her amazing “Birthday Suit Parade” plan.
“So, what better way to work through this hurdle than to make a video out of it? Not everyones cup of tea but for me it was what allowed the healing to start,” she writes. “I entrusted my best friend Sara to film me bare it all while at my most insecure. Shaking like a leaf, I hit the streets with my skin colored bikini and danced everyones opinions of my weight off my shoulders. Whether it be a relationship or your body, change isn’t easy—its emotional. And thats okay. No matter where you are in your journey, I hope this video brightens up your day and perhaps even makes you laugh. Love yourself.”
An awesome message from an awesome girl who made an awesome video. Check out all the awesomeness below:
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