This woman undressed in London to send a powerful message

Armed with a white board, some marker pens and a blindfold, Jae West headed to Piccadilly Circus to campaign for self-love and self-acceptance. After stripping off her clothing in the middle of the busy streets of Piccadilly Circus, she stood in her underwear, blindfolded, with pens in her hands and a sign reading: “I’m standing for anyone who has struggled with an eating disorder or self esteem issue like me…”

“It warmed my heart to know his children and others would grow up understanding the impact of this global issue and have a feeling of contribution after drawing a love heart on my body”.

After that first heart, others flooded in, with loads of members of the public chipping in to show their support.

West said she did the experiment as a “public act of self-acceptance…to get people to question the true relationship that they have to themselves and body-image” – a relationship she’s struggled with herself, having experienced an eating disorder “through high school and [her] early 20s”.

The woman’s name is Jae West, and she is a dancer, actress, and yoga instructor who was inspired to conduct this social experiment after watching a TED Talk by Amanda Palmer called “The Art of Asking”.

Upon feeling the first touch on her skin, West gushed that it was “one of the most overwhelming feelings of relief, gratitude, and love”.

She added: “One of the most moving and inspiring moments for me was listening to a Father explain to his children what I was doing”.

‘I just burst into tears.

“My heart was racing while all the worst case scenarios were going through my head”. I’d seen a large number of families and individuals of different cultures in the area and was anxious about offending them with exposing my body in the act of freedom that I was about to embark on.