Whitney Thore, an on-air producer for a Greensboro radio station, is sending a message with her “A Fat Girl Dancing” series on YouTube as a part of her “No Body Shame Campaign.”
“Cultural norms, societal pressures, and the whims of the fashion industry do not define my worth as woman or a human being,” Thore states on NoBodyShameCampaign.com. “My intelligence, personality, talents, and contributions do not fluctuate with the numbers on a scale.”
She stopped dancing in college after she started experiencing inexplicable weight gain.
“Unable to face my reflection, I failed out of dance class my first semester,” Thore told The Huffington Post in an email.
“By the time I had graduated college, been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, moved to Korea, and gained 200 pounds, I was finally able to dance socially, at a club or party, but never dreamed I would take a class or perform publicly ever again,” Thore said.
As part of Thore’s “No Body Shame Campaign” she discusses her own struggles with body acceptance and hopes to inspire other women.
“I think back to when I was 117 pounds… that’s when I first engaged in disorder eating. What’s wrong with our society when 117 pound women have eating disorders?” Thore told WGHP.
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